Magic, Mayhem, and Marauders
by N. E. Person
Summary: Three friends, Ember, Krystal, and Avery, find an old book in Ember's basement. The book is enchanting... literally. The three girls suddenly find themselves trapped in the world of Harry Potter at the time when the Marauders first meet at Hogwarts. Their only hope of returning home is to become a part of the story. Previously "Owls and Odd Occurrences"
1. Chapter 1: The Book

"Look!" Krystal exclaimed, holding up a dusty rectangle.

"A book?" Ember blankly inquired, waving the dust cloud Krystal had caused out of her face.

"Yep!" Krystal chirped.

"What's the title?" Avery demanded, curiously peering over a stack of boxes.

"I don't know… It's not on the cover," Krystal replied. She flipped through the yellowed pages, dispersing more dust across the dim basement. Avery and Ember both staggered back, coughing and covering their faces. "Sorry!" Ember groaned and Avery rolled her eyes while smiling. After a moment, Krystal muttered, "That's odd…"

"What?" Avery curiously probed.

"It's blank," Krystal responded.

"Oh," Avery replied, losing interest.

"It's probably some old journal," Ember provided. "It's like all the other junk down here that came with the house: old, dusty, and useless. Can we go, now?"

The three friends were spending the day at Ember's house. When Krystal and Avery had found the musty, unfinished basement, they insisted upon exploring it. Ember had sighed and conceded.

"Alright," Krystal grumbled, slightly deflated. "I was hoping it was a Harry Potter book."

"Yeah," Avery agreed. "Especially one with Sirius in it…"

"He's my favorite, too," Krystal remarked.

"You just like him because he's constantly causing trouble," Ember teased.

"Off course!" Avery exclaimed. "That's why we love the Marauders."

"Except Peter," Krystal sullenly opposed.

"Nobody could defend that _rat_," Avery concurred. Then, she laughed. "That was a pretty good pun."

"Well, I guess I'm not 'Nobody'," Ember retorted.

"_You like_ _Peter_?!" Krystal exclaimed in alarm.

"I don't _like_ him. I just have sympathy for him," Ember explained. "He didn't want to do what he did, but he didn't have enough courage to defy Voldemort. When he finally does rebel, he's killed because of it."

"Well, why did he become a Death Eater in the first place?" Krystal retorted. "They were his _friends_ and he _betrayed _them! What did they ever do to him?"

"James tormented him! The only reason he let him hang around was so he could make fun of him," Ember countered.

"That's still no reason to kill him!" Avery cried. "If he was so 'tormented', why didn't he just leave?"

"I don't think he knew at first," Ember insisted. "He just wanted fit in. Besides, do you really think he was walking down the street one day and just said, 'You know what? I want to be a Death Eater. First, I'll kill one of my friends and put the other in jail!'?"

"Peter was _evil_!" Krystal shouted. "_How_ can you side with him?"

"I'm not!" Ember replied. "He was a coward and got what he deserved. I'm just saying I know why he did what he did."

"Traitor," Avery teased.

"Next you're going to start defending _Voldemort_," Krystal taunted.

"Do you want me to?" Ember inquired. "Because-"

"No!" Krystal bellowed, bursting into laughter. Avery smiled deviously.

"Seriously-" Ember started. She was quickly cut off by her friends, who both doubled over laughing. "Will you two _ever_ get over that? I mean, it's not really that funny in the first place."

"We can't be _Sirius_," Avery teased. "He's a guy." The two started laughing all over again. "I'm _Sirius. _No, I'm _dead Sirius_!"

Krystal stopped giggling and turned pale. "Don't say that," she commanded.

"Why?" Avery mumbled, put out.

Ember frowned. "The Veil," she softly responded. Avery nodded. "She hated him dying even more than Dumbledore or Fred."

"Me too," Avery replied.

"He's not dead," Krystal answered. "They never said that the Veil killed him."

"Yes, it did," Ember muttered. "Luna said so herself."

"Well, she was wrong," Krystal persisted. "He can't be dead…"

"Let's just change the subject," Ember quietly suggested.

"You have a lot of things about Harry Potter wrong," Krystal asserted. "I wish we could go into the story and talk to the Marauders or something. Then, we could prove you were wrong."

"That would be fun!" Avery replied. "I could fly, hex people-"

"Umm… I think it's a _good_ thing it's not real," Ember suggested. "Or else, think of all Avery would do…"

"I know!" Avery giddily declared. "Fred and George would meet their match."

"I, however-" Krystal began.

"-would accidently kill us all whereas Avery would do it purposely," Ember cut in.

"Probably," Krystal joyfully chirped back, completely unfazed. "But I would have a blast the whole time!"

"I wouldn't doubt it," Ember answered. "Now, can we go upstairs before I suffocate?"

* * *

"Hey, I thought you said this was blank?" Avery inquired with a confused expression on her face.

"It is," Krystal answered.

"Nope," Avery declared. "Look." She held up the book, displaying the first page.

It read, "THE MARAUDERS,

PREQUEL TO THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.

J. K. ROWLING"

"That can't be right," Krystal muttered. "It was blank! And, that book doesn't exist…"

Ember, who was grabbing snacks from the kitchen, laughed. "It's probably a fake. I bet one of my brothers got bored and tried to make something up. They do that a lot, actually."

"I doubt your brothers could do this," Avery replied. "It's printed, not hand written."

"There's no such thing as a prequel to the Harry Potter books!" Krystal insisted. "Otherwise, I would have read it by now!"

"Maybe Rowling used to live here. This could have been a draft of the book, but it never got printed," Avery proposed.

"She never did, as far as I know," Ember answered, digging around in the fridge for a two litter. "I've seen the ownership records; there weren't any 'Rowling's. There were 'Ledbetter's and 'Wright's, though."

"Well, what are we waiting for?" Avery announced. "Let's read it already!"

Krystal laughed. "Okay." She got up from her chair and plopped down onto the couch beside Avery. She grinned and began to read aloud.

"Chapter one: _The Letter_. James flew out of bed. Something good was going to happen; he knew it. What was about to happen, he had no clue. He could just _feel_ that something big was coming."

Krystal's smile grew. "Yes! It's going to be about James," she declared.

"We already read about his kid. It's only fair that we follow his point of view," Avery replied.

"Hey!" Ember called, snatching three cups down from a cabinet. "Wait for me!"

"Okay!" Avery shouted back. "We will!" However, the two silently continued reading together.

The book began to glow, giving off an eerie blue light.

"What…?" Krystal began. She stopped as the world began to tilt. The two shared frightened looks. Then, they felt a tugging sensation, as if the book was pulling them in.

"Ember!" Avery shouted just as the world collapsed into the book, sucking them along with it.

Just as suddenly as it had occurred, the room righted itself. Everything returned to the same as it had been moments before, except one detail: Krystal and Avery were nowhere to be found.

"What?" Ember responded as she entered the living room, carrying a tray holding the cups and a large bowl of chips. Her eyes sweeping the room. "Hey, where'd you guys go?"

She gingerly set the tray down on a long, low coffee table beside the book. "Krystal? Avery?" She glanced down the hall and in the basement, bathroom, and outside.

"Hmm…" she murmured. "That's peculiar…"

Her eyes rested on the open book lying on the coffee table. It was no longer dusty, tattered, or aged. Actually, it looked brand new, like it was straight off the printing press.

Something was very peculiar, indeed.

**AN**

**Hi, readers! This is my first story, so I'm still getting used to the website. Please review my story. I'm still getting the hang of this. :)**


	2. Chapter 2: The 'Orphans'

Krystal screamed.

"What?" Avery mumbled, covering her ears. She was busy taking in the setting.

They were in an alley between two brick buildings. Oddly dressed individuals sauntered by the end of the alley, all wearing black. Avery had no clue where they were. She heard laughter and snippets of conversations, although none were discernible.

"You're… You're…" Krystal stuttered, at a loss for words.

"I'm what?" Aver demanded, irritated. She turned to face Krystal and gasped. "Oh, wow…" she muttered. "You're a little kid!"

"You are, too!" Krystal snapped, not taking the information very well. Krystal was sixteen and Avery was fifteen. In the alley, they both appeared to be around ten years old.

"This is _awesome_!" Avery replied, pumping her fist into the air.

Krystal smiled. "I guess…" Then, she frowned. "Where are we?"

"I don't know," Avery admitted. "But it sounds like they _might_ speak English…"

"I know Japanese," Krystal informed. "So we're okay there…"

"I can _read_ Korean," Avery added. "Well, I don't necessarily understand very much of it, but I could probably find a bathroom…" She thought for a moment. "Yo hablo un poco Español." Krystal raised her eyebrows and sent Avery a pointed look. "I speak a little Spanish," she translated.

"Couldn't you have just said that?" Krystal groaned.

"Where's the fun in that?"

Krystal just shook her head, a grin on her face. "Come on. Let's figure out where we are," she instructed.

Avery nodded, and the two exited the alley.

Ember frowned. She had checked _all_ over. Krystal and Avery were nowhere to be found. After exhausting all her resources, Ember had returned to the book. She sat on the couch next to it, thinking.

She picked the book up, turning it over through her hands. The leather cover was still blank, but it looked new and unscathed. The pages were crisp and white, instead of the brittle, yellowed pages it had held earlier. Ember compared it with one of the actually Harry Potter books that she retrieved for a reference. The font and formatting was the same. In all, except for the leather cover, it appeared as if it actually genuine.

Ember came to the conclusion that it wasn't the same book that was found in the basement. Krystal must have put the first book down somewhere. Then, Avery saw the second book and picked it up, assuming that it was the first book. Where this second book came from was a mystery, but she guessed it was probably her one of her brothers'.

Still, Ember couldn't come up with a valid hypothesis on where her two friends had gone. Krystal wouldn't have left in the middle of a chapter without a good reason; she loved reading way too much. Avery was devious. She would have turned the book back to the first page to make appear as if she hadn't read ahead even after she said she'd wait.

That meant that they must have left in a hurry. She still lacked a motive, though.

After some consideration, she decided she would look in the book to see if there was any evidence. Maybe something that they read would provide an answer.

…

As Krystal and Avery entered the street, one thing became clear: they weren't in their city anymore. Actually, they weren't even in the same country.

"We're in… _England_?" Avery mumbled in awe.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Krystal groaned.

"It's not _that_ obvious," Avery defended.

"Color is spelled ' R' on that sign," Krystal flatly stated.

"They can't spell?" Avery suggested. "Or maybe they were doing something like when people spell shop with a 'P E' at the end. 'Shopay'."

"It's still pronounced 'shop'," Krystal informed.

"I know, but it sounds cooler my way," Avery replied.

"Okay, well, how about this?" Krystal continued. "There's a British flag over there."

"Olympic fans," Avery proposed.

"That sign says, _'The best in London!'_"

"It could be a vintage. And, lots of cities in the United States are named London. Off the top of my head, I know that Alabama has two."

"It's overcast and damp, even though it's summer," Krystal declared.

"It's allowed to rain in the summer," Avery retorted.

"Everyone speaks in a _British accent_," Krystal shot, unrelenting.

"Tour group?" Even Avery knew that her excuse sounded weak.

"Really?" Krystal sighed. "That's the _best_ you could do?"

"How's this: instead of China Town, it's England Town?" Avery teased.

"Try again," Krystal instructed.

"I've got it!" Avery announced. "It's a nerd convention and these people are in costume as British people from some comic book or something."

"I don't think so," Krystal answered.

"Why else are they dressed funny? And that sign says, 'Amanuensis Quills,' and another says, '2nd Hand Brooms,'" Avery stated. She stumbled a bit on the 'Amanuensis'.

"Look! Eeylop's Owl Emporium! And there's Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour!" Krystal cried. "Do you know what that means?"

"You've been here before?" Avery guessed.

"No! It's from Harry Potter!" Krystal answered.

"Oh, yeah!" Avery laughed. "There's Flourish and Bott's." She pointed. "We're in a model of Diagon Alley."

"This is _so_ cool," Krystal commented, giddy with excitement. "A Harry Potter reenactment!"

Just then, a ten year old boy darted past, holding a broom. "Hey, you!" a shopkeeper called. "Get back here, you scoundrel!" Instead of stopping, however, the boy jumped onto the broom _and started to fly_.

_"How is he doing that?"_ Avery whispered.

_"There's probably a wire or something…"_ Krystal answered, her voice hushed as well.

"James!" a red head woman angrily shouted, stomping her foot. She thrust her hand into her cloak and pulled out a wand. "Petrificus totalus!" she cried. A beam of light blasted out of her wand, hitting the boy. Instantly, the boy and his broom froze in midflight. "Accio James." Another burst of light, and the boy and his broom floated toward the speaker. "Finite Incantatum." The boy unfroze, dismounted the broom. He refused to look up at his captor.

"Expelliarmus!" the shop keeper cried, waving his own wand. The broom leapt from the boy's hands. He stomped over and snatched it up. "Thought you could get away, _thief_?"

"I wasn't stealing it!" the boy cried indignantly. "I was just taking it for a… test run. I was going to return it afterword."

"_Sure,"_ the shop owner sneered.

"I'll take care of this," the red head woman cut in. "I'm very sorry for his behavior; it won't happen again."

"_Sure,"_ the shop keeper repeated, still glaring at the boy. "But if I even _see_ him in my store again, he'll pay." The man stomped off, broom in hand. By then, a huge crowd had gathered, blocking the girls' view.

"That _wasn't_ faked," Avery stated, slightly unnerved. Then, she grinned at what that implied. "We're actually _in_ the _real _Diagon Alley!"

"Thanks again, Captain Obvious," Krystal snickered, but her face had lit up as well.

"Let's go to Weasley's Wizard Wheezes!" Avery declared.

"Um… We have no clue where that is…" Krystal admitted. "And, we don't have any money. And, we're not magical."

"Aren't you just a bottle of sunshine?" Avery teased. After a pause, she inquired, "Does that make us _Muggles_?"

"Yeah," Krystal replied. "Unfortunately so."

"Hey!" a burly man called. It took the two girls a few moments to realize he was talking to them.

"Yes, sir?" Krystal inquired.

"Are you two lost?" the man probed. Krystal and Avery shared looks. Krystal nodded.

"Where are your parents?" he demanded.

"Well…" Krystal began.

"They're not here," Avery answered.

The man frowned. "Where are they, then?"

"America. We're Americans," Krystal replied.

"That explains the clothing," the man responded. Krystal and Avery both looked down. Krystal was wearing a bright pink tank top, gray shorts, and matching flip flops. Avery wore a neon yellow shirt, jean shorts that went to her knees, and sandals. Compared to the uniform black robes of the rest of the occupants, they stuck out like an ostrich in a group of chickens. "How did you get here?"

"Well, we were both at home," Krystal started.

"And a scary dude broke in!" Avery completed. Krystal shot her a confused look. Avery smiled mischievously back. "He said his name was Moldy Warts or something."

"'Moldy Warts'?" the man skeptically echoed.

"He was wearing this weird coat, like the one you have on," Krystal continued, catching on. She pretended to be oblivious of the wizarding world, too. "And he pulled out a magic wand and shouted something at our parents. This green light hit them, and they fell to the floor."

"Do you know what he said?" the man grilled.

"Yeah!" Avery squeaked. "He said, 'Abracadabra!', like a real magician would."

The man chuckled for a moment, before turning pale. "Avada Kedavra?" he hesitantly inquired.

"Yep," Krystal answered. "Our parents told us to hide when the man burst in. We were watching from behind the hall door."

"We were scared they were going to get us, too," Avery continued lying. "They were about to open the door, when _poof_, we were here."

The man examined them. "What're your names?"

"My name is Krystal Harrington," Krystal announced.

"I'm Avery Farms," Avery mindlessly introduced.

The man furrowed his eyebrows.

"We're cousins!" Krystal quickly lied, saving their fabricated tale.

"Yeah," Avery assured, realizing her mistake. "Her mom is my mother's… sister." Luckily, the man didn't catch her hesitation.

"They killed _my_ parents and _her_ parents," Krystal clarified. "We were visiting Avery's house when the scary man attacked."

The man bought their falsehood. "I better bring you two to the Ministry."

"What Ministry?" Avery inquired, still feigning ignorance.

"The Ministry of Magic," the man answered.

"Magic?" Krystal exclaimed.

"You're Muggle born, aren't you?" It was more of a statement than a question.

"What's a 'muggle'?" Avery queried. "It sounds funny."

"Yes, you're definitely Muggles," the man proclaimed, although it was mostly directed toward himself. "Come with me. We'll clean this mess up."

Krystal and Avery followed the man out of Diagon Alley with large grins on their faces. They were in for some fun.


	3. Chapter 3: Twinkle

Krystal and Avery sat quietly in an office in the Ministry of Magic. They had repeated their tale to the witch that worked there, and the two adults had left the room together to talk things over.

After a while, Avery broke the silence. "So, now what?"

"I don't know. It's _your_ plan, remember?" Krystal answered.

"Yeah, what was your plan?" Avery heatedly demanded. "That's right; you didn't have one. This was the first thing I thought of."

"Improvisation isn't my thing," Krystal defended. "If I had more time, I could have come up with something brilliant."

"But we didn't have more time," Avery insisted. "So I did something I thought might give us a shot. We can go home when we get bored."

"No, we can't," Krystal retorted, even more upset. "My parents aren't even _born_ yet."

"What?" Avery exclaimed, momentarily forgetting her agitation.

"Look at the calendar over there," Krystal patiently instructed, but her voice was strained. "What's the date?"

"It's still June 8, 2013," Avery replied.

"No," Krystal responded, unusually calm. "Look again."

The calendar, hanging on the wall next to the woman's desk, displayed a picture of a silvery unicorn placidly standing in a meadow. It gazed out at the two girls before returning to its dainty grazing. Beneath the picture, the previous days of the month had been crossed out, stopping at June 8. Everything looked fine except for one detail.

_The year was_ _1971_.

"Oh, wow…" Avery muttered. "I'm older than my parents! That's a game changer."

"You should just change your name to Captain Obvious, at this rate," Krystal stated, close to her breaking point. The stress was too much for her. Avery dealt with it all by using humor. She, however, tended to explode. She was a ticking time bomb…

"Oh, cut me some slack!" Avery demanded, grinning. "I'm a year younger!"

Krystal took a deep breath and tried to lighten up a bit. "Yes," she admitted. "I have an unfair advantage there, but still…"

The door opened and the two adults returned to the room. The man sighed. "Come on," he instructed.

The two girls hopped up. "Where are we going?" Avery inquired.

"You're going to stay with me until this all gets sorted out," he informed.

"Oh," Avery answered. She had been hoping for something better. Krystal just nodded.

The three of them walked back into the Atrium. In the center was the Fountain of Magical Brethren, a large, golden water fountain with a wizard, witch, centaur, goblin, and house elf posed dramatically. Water spewed out of several locations. The effect was rather breathtaking.

Around the fountain, the ministers rushed to and from their offices, creating a swirling black blur at the fountain's base.

"Wow…" Krystal murmured. "It's amazing!"

"Cool," Avery approved. "How long did it take them to build it?"

"I don't know," the man confessed.

"Why did we go to the Ministry of Magic?" Avery inquired. "Wait, are you a magician?"

"The correct term is 'wizard', but I guess that's what Americans call us," he answered.

"Cool!" Avery repeated. "Where's your pointy hat?"

"Despite what Muggles think, we don't wear them," the man responded.

"I want to be a wizard," Avery declared.

"You would be a witch," the man corrected.

"Oo, then would I wear a point hat?" Avery queried.

"Witches don't, either," the man flatly replied.

"Do they have black cats?" Avery requested.

"The ones that like cats do," the man supplied.

"Would I turn green?"

"Why in the world would you turn green?" the man demanded, frustrated. He was _not_ used to children. He had already decided that these two were probably worse than most…

"Well, in The Wizard of Oz, the Wicked Witch of the West was green," Avery enlightened.

"The nice witch wasn't green, though," Krystal reminded. "So, you wouldn't be green either."

"What if I turned evil?" Avery insisted. "Then would I turn green?"

"Let us hope not for both," the man stated, his voice ringing with finality. The three remained silent. The man scratched his dark, stubbly beard, deep in thought. "I would Apparate," he finally spoke out loud, "but since you might turn out to be Muggles, I shouldn't risk it. The same goes for the Flu Network. I guess we'll have to walk back."

"Again?" Avery groaned. "But we walked here… Can't we take a bus or something?"

"It's not that far," the man assured. "You'll be fine."

* * *

"This is _your_ place?" Avery exclaimed. The man had led them to a large house in fancy neighborhood. It was two stories tall and had two small towers rising gracefully up on each side. The house was painted light blue with white shutters and trim. A tidy white picket fence bordered the property line. "It's a _mansion_!"

"No," the man disagreed, but his pleasure was evident. "It's a Victorian. One of the oldest in the neighborhood."

"You must have like twenty housekeepers," Avery speculated. Krystal groaned.

"No, but I have one very good house elf," was the man's response.

"House elf?" Avery echoed, cocking her head. She smiled. She was really good at playing stupid.

"You'll see soon enough," the man answered with a glint in his eyes. He opened the front door and called, "Twinkle! We have some guests."

A squeaky voice cried, "Coming, Master! Twinkle loves guests! But, Twinkle did not remember guests were coming, or Twinkle would have made cookies! Twinkle is a bad, bad servant."

"No, Twinkle. I didn't know we'd have guests, either. They need a place to stay until the Ministry takes care of them, so they'll be here for a little while," the man explained.

Just as he finished, a small house elf ran into the room. She had large brown eyes, pointed ears, and wore a once white pillow case.

"Ew!" Avery shrieked in disgust. "What is that _thing_?"

"Aw!" Krystal cried simultaneously. "Isn't she _adorable_?" She ran forward and scooped her up, cuddling her as if the elf was a puppy.

"Twinkle loves little girls! Twinkle has not seen little girls in long, long time!" Twinkle happily remarked. "Twinkle wishes Master would marry and have little girls for Twinkle to spoil."

The man shook his head disapprovingly, but a faint smile betrayed him. "Twinkle, you are a worse nag than my own mother was. One of these days, I'm going to get tired of it and give you an old sock."

"Twinkle knows that Master loves Twinkle," Twinkle confidently declared. "Master knows that Twinkle takes good care of Master. Master would not get rid of Twinkle."

Krystal giggled. "Isn't she adorable?" she repeated.

"I guess," Avery answered reluctantly. "But I would have liked cookies."

"Of all the things in the world, _that_ is what you're stuck on?" Krystal griped. "We're orphans now, this guy that has no clue who we took us in and is going to let us stay in his house, and you're whining because of cookies?"

"I was just teasing," Avery replied.

"What are your names?" Twinkle inquired, breaking the awkward silence.

"I'm Avery and the one squeezing you to death is Krystal," Avery introduced.

"I am not!" Krystal denied.

"Sure…" Avery sarcastically retorted, rolling her eyes.

"Right, Twinkle?" Krystal queried.

"Twinkle is not being crushed," Twinkle confirmed. Krystal laughed in triumph. "But, Twinkle wants to be put down now…"

Avery grinned, victorious. "Ha!"

The man just shook his head again, amused. He knew the next few days were going to be _very_ long.

**AN**

**No Ember in this chapter. She'll be back, though. Sooner than later... ;)**

**Things will pick up the pace in a little bit. I promise. The next chapter should be more fun.**

**Please review! Complete criticism is better than no responses at all.**

**Now, even though it's pretty much a no brainer:**

**_Disclaimer:_**

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, you would not be reading this here on Fan Fiction. ;)**


	4. Chapter 4: Avery Flies (Sort of)

Avery woke up with a grin. She had had this weird dream that she was in a Harry Potter book… Then, she caught sight of the ceiling, painted a creamy blue. It wasn't a dream… She was actually _here,_ in the middle of London in an actual wizard's house! It was too good for her to believe it was true. She whooped with joy, pumping her fist in the air.

Krystal had woken up too. The weight of the day before crushed her. She frowned and curled up into a ball under her covers. She would _never_ see her family again. She hadn't thought that she would ever miss her two annoying little brothers, but without them, she felt hollow.

"Krystal!" Avery shouted gleefully. "Krystal! _Krystal_! Are you awake?!"

"I am now," she muttered with a yawn.

"Oops."

Krystal threw the blankets off from over her head and examined the room for the first time. She had been too tired the day before to take in her surroundings.

The walls and ceiling was painted a soothing sky blue with white crown molding. Thin white curtains hung daintily over the large windows. The two beds were on either side of the window. Both had blue and white checkered sheets and a cedar frame. The frame matched the wood flooring and the door to the hall. A clock hung next to the door. The room was both comforting and sterile at the same time.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Yes?" Avery inquired.

Twinkle opened the door, standing on her tip toes to reach the door knob. "Twinkle made breakfast if Avery and Krystal are hungry."

"Good! I'm starving," Avery informed. She bolted downstairs with Twinkle scampering behind her.

Krystal sighed and sat up. She glared at the analog clock. She never could read them very easily. She stretched and got out of bed. She followed Avery's laughter to find the dining room.

When she arrived, Krystal gasped in shock. The dining room was bright; the large windows faced the morning sun. The walls were a soft yellow that seemed to make the room glow. There was an oval table in the middle of the room with three chairs set around it. What was on the table, however, was what caught her eye. The table was covered with breakfast foods, including scrambled eggs, bacon, fried potatoes, oatmeal, pancakes, sausage, and French toast. A tea steaming tea pot and a pitcher of orange juice completed the scene.

"Twinkle didn't know what Avery and Krystal liked, so Twinkle made some of everything," Twinkle announced.

"It looks great!" Avery answered, hungrily scanning the assembly. Krystal let the aromas waft over her. She hadn't been hungry before, but once she was there, it _did _look appetizing.

When the burly man entered, both Krystal and Avery were eating contentedly. Krystal observed the man as he entered while nibbling on a piece of bacon.

"What-" he started. He shook his head. "Twinkle!"

Avery paused and glanced up for a moment before continuing to scarf down her waffles and bacon.

"Yes, Master?" Twinkle inquired, scurrying into the room.

"What is all this?" He gestured to the table.

"Twinkle didn't know what Avery and Krystal wanted, so Twinkle cooked everything Twinkle could think of," Twinkle explained for the second time. "Twinkle knows what Avery and Krystal like, now. From now on, Twinkle will know what to make."

The man frowned. "Couldn't you have just asked them?" he suggested. "Did they talk you into it?"

"No! Avery and Krystal were sleeping. Twinkle didn't want to wake Avery and Krystal. Avery and Krystal had had bad day. Twinkle couldn't wake Avery and Krystal. So, Twinkle prepared everything." Twinkle smiled. "Twinkle knows what to make, now. Now, Avery and Twinkle will have good breakfast every day."

"They're not staying that long," the man informed. "Just a day or two."

"Avery and Krystal don't stay?" Twinkle cried in dismay. "Twinkle _loves_ Avery and Krystal!"

"All they did was spend the night and now you love them?" the man queried, exasperated. "Next, you'll start loving robbers."

"No, master, no! Twinkle doesn't let robbers in Master's house! Robbers are _bad_!" Twinkle exclaimed.

"Calm down," the man soothed. "You did fine."

Twinkle cheerfully smiled up at him. "Thank you, Master!" She scampered out of the room.

The room returned to peaceful silence. The man pulled out a newspaper called _The Daily Prophet_. The main headline read, 'Hogwarts Letters Sent Today'. Krystal could help feeling excited. She could be magical after all and go to Hogwarts…

She daydreamed as she poked around her chocolate chip pancakes. She and Avery both finished at around the same time.

"What do you want us to do with our plates?" Krystal quietly probed. The man looked up from his paper.

"Just leave them there," he instructed. "Twinkle will get them."

The two girls tidied up their area and left the dining room. They silently concurred to go outside. The man's backyard was large, with perfectly manicured grass going all the way to a wooded area.

"Well, at least the weather's nice here," Avery finally noted, unable to stand the quiet.

"Today, you mean," Krystal amended. "It's England; I doubt it will stay that way."

"What do you want to do?" Avery queried, desperate for entertainment.

Krystal shrugged. "We could explore the woods."

"Kind of boring…" Avery answered.

"Hide and go seek?" Krystal proposed.

"Just because I may look like a ten year old, now," Avery rebuked, "does _not_ mean I'm going to act like one."

"Are you kidding?" Krystal shot back. "Admit it: you are a better ten year old than you were a fifteen year old."

"So are you!" Avery retorted. Krystal was about to answer, but Avery cut her off. "Look! There's a shed. Let's check it out."

Krystal groaned and followed. Avery threw the door open and laughed. "Look!"

On the outside, the shed was small and painted the same color as the house. On the inside, however, the shed was much larger. Its shelves held tool boxes, rakes, shovels, pots, and other lawn care equipment. At the far end of the building was a trunk. Instantly, Avery's eyes zeroed in on it. Krystal followed her gaze.

"You shouldn't look in there," she warned.

"What could it hurt?" Avery remarked, heading toward it. She popped the lid open. "See?" Inside the truck was an old kite, a broom, a Quidditch beater, a box with Quidditch balls in it, a shabby stuffed dog, and other toys.

"I wonder if the kite still flies," Krystal wondered aloud. It was red, her favorite color.

"We'll see in a second," Avery answered, snatching it up and slamming the lid shut. She ran outside. "You throw the kite up and I'll hold the string!"

Krystal took the kite from Avery and held it up over her head. Avery jogged backwards, unwinding the twine at the same time. A strong breeze came up, and Krystal tossed it into the air.

The kite soared upwards, its tail shooting flashes of color. "Cool!" Avery laughed. "It's like someone attached sparklers to the end of it."

"It must be magical," Krystal stated.

"No, duh!" Avery answered.

Another breeze blew, and the two heard a snapping sound. "Drat!" Avery exclaimed as the string broke, freeing the scarlet kite. It flew until it caught on the branches of an apple tree. The two girls rushed to examine the situation.

"I can't climb that. Can you?" Avery grilled.

"No," Krystal bluntly responded.

The two stood thinking for a minute. "I've got it!" Avery cried. "Stay here!" She darted back to the shed, leaving Krystal behind, bewildered. Avery snatched up the old broom and darted back.

"I don't think it will reach…" Krystal commented.

"Sure it will," Avery answered. She swung her leg over.

"No!" Krystal exclaimed. "You are _not_ about to try ride that!"

"Yes, I am," Avery retorted. "I'll be fine."

"I have a hard time believing that," Krystal shot back.

"Come on; what could possibly go wrong?"

"Everything," Krystal responded. "And I'm an _optimist_."

Avery rolled her eyes. "Stand back!" she commanded. She took a deep breath and shouted, "Up!" Instantly, the broom shot straight up in the air. "Stop!" she cried, surprised at its speed. The broom halted fifty feet up in the air. The kite was only ten feet. "Um… down," Avery commanded.

The broom took a nosedive, plunging straight toward the ground. Krystal shrieked.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Avery wailed. She threw her weight forward, willing the broom to level out. The broom responded, but with one major flaw: Avery ended up clinging upside-down to the broom shaft. She locked her knees around the pole and clasped the end with her hands, desperate not to fall off. The broom swerved and dived wildly, practically flinging her off multiple times.

"Left!" Krystal directed, as panicked as Avery was. "Now, right! No, your _other_ right!"

Avery followed Krystal's frenzied instructions, unable to do much else other than scream. She couldn't see very well; the wind lashed at her eyes whenever she tried to open them more than slits.

"Turn!" Krystal yelped, too late. Avery careened into one of the apple tree's branches, whacking her head. She careened backwards, the force knocking one of her legs free and causing her other leg to slip. She dangled mostly by her hands, which were slowly losing their grip.

_"KRYSTAL!"_ she yelped.

"Sorry!" Krystal cried back.

Avery felt herself gradually slipping. If she didn't land soon, she would plummet to the ground. At the height she was at, it wouldn't be pretty.

Suddenly, she heard someone shout, "IMMOBULUS!" Instantly, the world stopped spinning and her pain disappeared. Someone had stopped the broom. She tried to say something, but no sound would come out. Then, she realized she was frozen, too.

Krystal breathed a sigh of relief. She hadn't known she had been holding her breath. The man stalked out from the house toward them with his wand out. His face contained a mixture of surprise, anger, and amusement. Behind him, Twinkle scuttled after. Her horror was almost comical.

"What is going on?" the man tentatively investigated, without taking his eyes off Avery.

Krystal stared at Avery, at a loss for words. Avery was frozen, her one leg dangling limply beneath her. Her face was contorted in an exhilarated scream, and her windblown, ruddy hair stuck out in all directions. The kite, which had caused the perilous display, was balanced precariously on her head.

Krystal nervously giggled. "Uh… The kite got stuck in the tree, so Avery was getting it down," she lamely explained. The man looked back at her, bearing an odd expression. "How did you know?"

"Twinkle saw Avery through window. Twinkle was scared Avery would get hurt, so Twinkle ran to Master!" Twinkle practically sobbed, wringing her hands on her pillow case. Her eyes were even larger than normal. Krystal wouldn't have thought it was possible if she had not seen it for herself. "Twinkle oh so much hopes Avery is all right!"

After a moment of thought, the man inquired, "Twinkle, do you know where the kitchen's broom is?"

"Yes, Master," Twinkle whimpered.

"Bring it out here," he instructed.

"Yes, Master!" Twinkle darted off.

The man shook his head. "What am I going to do with you?"

"You should take a picture," Krystal suggested. "That way, when we leave, you won't forget us."

The man grunted. "I _doubt_ I could forget you after this." He paused. "But I think I might just get a picture of this."

Avery managed to make a strangled croaking noise as the man disappeared inside the house. He returned moments later, a thick camera in hand. He took aim and shot a single picture. The picture rolled out the bottom, which he handed to Krystal. The square was black.

Twinkle sprinted out to them, holding the unbalanced broom over her head. "Twinkle got broom!" she shouted.

"Shake it," the man instructed Krystal as he set his camera down. Krystal curiously shook the blank picture, wondering what it would affect.

The man took the broom from Twinkle. He mounted in uneasily. "This wasn't really made for flying," he informed. "I think it will hold my weight, though."

The broom levitated with a creak. It slowly crept up toward Avery. Once he was close enough, the man grabbed the shaft of her broom and led it back down to the ground. "Relashio," he muttered, and Avery unfroze. She trembled violently.

Krystal looked down at the picture, which had sluggishly devolved. She held the picture out for Avery to see.

Avery examined her picture. The Avery in the picture was laughing gleefully, carefully letting one hand go so she could wave. Then, she slipped a bit and frantically grasped the broom again. She burst into even more laughter, almost knocking the kite off her head.

The real Avery doubled over, tremors racking her body even harder.

"Is Avery all right?" Twinkle demanded, concerned.

With that, Avery couldn't contain it any longer. She exploded into uncontrollable laughter.

"Are you okay?" Krystal inquired. Avery continued to cackle wildly.

"Avery is hysterical!" Twinkle panicked. "Avery hit head on tree! Avery has concussion!"

"Calm down," the man directed. Twinkle bit her lip and Avery's laughter died down a bit.

"Avery, get a grip," Krystal charged. "You look like a madwoman."

Finally, Avery stopped giggling enough to communicate. "That… Was… AWESOME!" she cried in delight. She gasped and finished her laughing fit. "Can I do that again?"

"I think you've done enough for today," the man answered.

"My head _does_ hurt a bit," Avery replied.

"You're hard headed; you'll be fine," Krystal assured.

"Avery is alright?" Twinkle probed.

"Avery is great!" Avery confirmed.

Twinkle instantly looked relieved. "Avery scared Twinkle."

"I'm sorry," Avery apologized. "But that was fun."

"Well, that's _one_ way to find out you have magic," the man chuckled. "Although, there are better ways…"

"Your turn," Avery declared, handing Krystal the broom. "Let's see if you can fly, too!"

"You call that 'flying'?" Krystal teased. "More like 'falling'!"

"I think _I'll_ be taking that," the man declared. "No more flying lessons for today."

Krystal pouted. "I want to know if I'm magical, too."

He sighed. "Not right now. We've had enough excitement for one day," he elicited.

Krystal and Avery shared looks, and they both burst into laughter. The man grinned and shook his head. Maybe he hadn't been right about them.

It might not be so long, after all.

**I have over a 100 views! :D But, only 7 reviews so far, and most of them are from the same two people. Review, please!  
**

**Still no more Ember... She's around her somewhere... :/ Really, she'll be back soon. **

**Turns out Avery _does_ have magic. She claims it's from her mom's side. ;)  
**

**Oh, forgot to mention: Avery is based of off Lady Loophole and Krystal is really Akozu Heiwa. You can look up their stories; they're pretty good authors. Kind of like myself... ;)**

**I, off course, am our _star character_, Ember... (I guess no one can say I'm biased, since I've gone MIA in my own story ;D )**

**Now, even though it's pretty clear:**

**_Disclaimer:_**

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, my name would be J. K. Rowling. ;)  
**


	5. Chapter 5: The Daily Prophet

"Krystal!" Avery bellowed.

"What?" Krystal demanded as she scrambled into the room. She wondered what Avery had gotten herself into this time…

"We're in the newspaper!" Avery gleefully responded, flapping a section of the _Daily Prophet_ in the air.

Krystal snatched the article out of Avery's grip. The page read in bold letters, _"__**Muggle Girls Found in Diagon Alley**__"_. Underneath was a picture of the two girls, waving and smiling.

"Cool!" Krystal exclaimed. She snatched it from Avery and began to read aloud.

"'Two days ago, American cousins Krystal Harrington and Avery Farms were found in Diagon Alley with an amazing story. They claim that they had been in their home when an unidentified wizard broke in. We have reason to believe that this wizard was Voldemort, a suspicious character that disappeared from London a few years ago. He shot at the family with the Avada Kedavra killing curse. Before this rouge wizard could attack the two girls, they both Apparated to the middle of Diagon Alley, the first documented Muggle entry. One of the two girls is reported to be a witch, which might explain the unauthorized Apparation. She will most likely be receiving a Hogwart's letter sometime later this week. Now, the two girls are temporarily staying at a London citizen's residence until another residency can be found. If you would like to adopt one of these children, please visit Ms. Wilson's office in the Ministry of Magic for more information.'"

The man walked into the room, confused. "Have either of you seen where half of my newspaper went?"

"Here it is!" Krystal answered, holding it up.

"What were you doing with it?" he curiously inquired.

"We were looking at our picture," Avery piped up. The man took the article from them and started to frown.

"This isn't good," he mumbled. "I'll need to talk to them about this."

"Why not?" Avery demanded.

"You don't need all this publicity," the man simply stated. His voice rang with finality. "I'll have to talk to the Ministry about this."

"Oh," Krystal sighed, deflated.

"I've got to go to work," the man announced, glancing at his watch. Then, he regarded the two girls with a warm smile. "Don't do anything _too_ crazy. I won't be here to save you this time. If you need any help, find Twinkle."

"Bye!" Avery called cheerfully. Krystal grinned and waved.

"Now what?" Avery inquired, turning to Krystal.

"I don't know…" Krystal answered. "We can't go outside…"

"Why not?" Avery demanded. Krystal motioned toward the window, which displayed a dismal scene. Water steadily dripped off the dreary Victorians that had once seemed majestic. Even the sky was an unbroken shade of drab gray. "Oh…"

"Yeah," Krystal scoffed.

"You need to chill," Avery responded.

"Chill?!" Krystal snapped. "I'm never seeing my family again, I've lost all my friends, I'm an orphan, and I probably don't have magic I'm about as chilled as I'm going to get."

"Oh…" Avery repeated, hurt this time. Avery and Krystal had both been _Ember's_ friends, not necessarily the other way around. Avery had liked Krystal, though.

Krystal realized the cause Avery's pain. "Other than you," she backpedaled. "I've lost all my friends _other _than you."

Avery frowned and Krystal realized how awful her defense had sounded. She had officially lost everything. Her family, her pets, her home, her friends… It was all gone. She sighed, fighting tears. Self-pity wouldn't help her any, even if it was a tempting option.

"At least we have each other," Avery noted, surprising Krystal. "And I'm _sure_ you have magic."

"Really?" Krystal hopefully inquired.

"I'm positive," Avery assured, smiling. Usually, Krystal was the optimistic and cheerful one of the trio. Avery felt bad for her; Krystal wasn't taking things too well. That was the major difference between the two girls: Krystal loved constancy and Avery loved adventure. It was almost impossible to have both.

"Where do you think Ember is?" Krystal queried, trying to force a change of subject. Ember hadn't been in the room when the two had disappeared. What had happened to Ember…?

* * *

Ember groaned, hazily sitting up. Something fell off her lap, landing with a thud. She was sprawled in a dark, decaying alley. She was alone… or not.

A shrill shriek reached her ears. "Get out of here! Shoo!" Ember followed the voice to a plump, middle aged woman, waving a broom at her. "You heard me! Get out! Scram!"

"Where am I?" Ember groggily mumbled. She obediently jumped up.

"Rosie, what's wrong?" a second voice called. Moments later, a door, previously disguised by the layers of scum, swung open and a man jumped out.

"There's a _filthy_ _stray_ out here!" The woman, who Ember realized was Rosie, gestured to her as if she was a rabid dog.

"Where am I?" Ember repeated. She slowly backed away and put her hands up.

"London," the man answered as if it was obvious. Their accents attested to his answer. Ember frowned, scrutinizing the adults' clothing.

"What year is it?" Ember inquired with a sinking feeling in her stomach.

The man stared at her. "1971," he flatly responded.

"Don't talk to it!" Rosie reprimanded.

Ember turned pale. "That's _not_ possible…"

"Where are your parents?" the man demanded, becoming uninterested.

"America," Ember replied in a quiet voice.

The man was taken aback, but Rosie remained unaffected. "America? How did you get here?" the man probed.

Ember continued to frown. The whole situation was getting worse by the second. Someone kidnapped her and dumped her in an alley in London, and she had been discovered by crazy people that thought they were in the 1970's. She just hoped that Krystal and Avery were better off than she was.

She quickly weighed her options and decided to play it safe. She concluded she should play two truths and a lie. "I don't know… I can't remember…" Ember muttered. "My head hurts _so_ much…" Both of the statements were true, even if they were a _bit_ misleading. "I… can't remember… anything," she finally murmured.

The man looked at Rosie, uncertain. "What should we do?"

"Don't believe it!" the woman scoffed. "The little rat is lying."

Ember's frown remained plastered to her face. She preferred being compared to a lost dog over a rodent any day.

"I think I'll drop her off at the orphanage," the man finally decided. "Then, they can decide what to do with her."

Ember flipped a discarded newspaper over with her shoe. It read,

"_The Daily Prophet June 10, 1971 _

_**Muggle Girls Found in Diagon Alley**__."_

Beneath it, a smudged picture of Krystal and Avery _waved_ at her. Ember froze. It looked like _they_ both made it alright.

_The Daily Prophet _was from Harry Potter… Ember could connect the dots, but that didn't mean that she would believe it for a moment.

Beside the newspaper was the equally dirty backpack. She realized that it was the thing she had knocked off her lap when she had woken up. She scooped it up and glanced inside. Upon seeing the contents, she shook her head.

Someone _really_ wanted her to believe in the impossible.

Unfortunately, it would take a _lot_ more to convince Ember.

**AN**

**I'm back! Yay! **

**Sorry I haven't posted in forever. I was visiting my grandparents THAT DON'T HAVE INTERNET.:O**

**But, I did manage to get two chapters down. So, happy reading!**

**Oh, yeah, and Ember's back! Yay! **

**Now, even though it's pretty evident:**

**_Disclaimer:_**

******I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, this disclaimer wouldn't need to be here, would it? ;)**


	6. Chapter 6: The Adoption

Avery and Krystal were eating dinner when the man walked in.

"I have some news," the man announced.

"Yes?" Krystal requested.

"You two have officially been adopted," the man declared.

Twinkle frowned. "Oh, no."

"Really?" Avery queried. She didn't want to leave. She had a lot of fun.

"Yes," the man answered. "Do you want to know who?"

"Yeah," Avery responded. "What're their names?"

The man smiled. "It's only one person. It's a man who works for the Ministry named Thomas Jones."

Twinkle instantly sighed in relief.

"Who's that?" Krystal probed. She didn't want to go, either.

Now, the man's grin grew even larger. Twinkle giggled.

"Thomas Jones," he revealed, "is _me_."

"YES!" Avery shouted, pumping her fist in the air.

Krystal smiled. "What made you change your mind?" she inquired.

"I realized I was lonelier than I knew. You two showed me that. You kind of grew on me, too," the man, Thomas Jones, explained. "And, it would break poor Twinkle's heart. She's getting older. She was my father's house elf, you know."

"Now, our last name is Jones, right?" Krystal inquired.

"Yes," the man confirmed.

"Avery Jones," Avery tried out loud. "It's got a decent ring to it. Krystal Jones? Not so much."

"I like it," Krystal protested.

"Do I have to call you 'dad', now?" Avery demanded.

"Um…" the man considered. "I don't think so. You already had fathers. I'm not trying to replace them."

"What _should_ we call you?" Krystal questioned.

"Mr. Jones?" Avery tried.

"How about Mr. Thomas for now?" he suggested.

"Okay," Krystal replied.

"Twinkle is _so_ happy!" Twinkle cried. "Twinkle will cook _big, big_ chocolate cake to celebrate!"

"I like that," Avery answered.

"While Twinkle does that," the man continued, "I think our first order of business is some clothes shopping."

Both girls looked down, self-conscious. They were still wearing the same clothes that they arrived in. Now dirty, wrinkled, and stained, they were in desperate need for some new apparel.

"Clothes shopping?" Avery echoed. "You are going to regret that."

Jones laughed. If Avery admitted that something was going to be bad, it was sure to be terrible.

* * *

Ember frowned. When she thought about it, she had been frowning a lot. She sat on the bed in her 'new room'. She was in her room in the orphanage. It was small, dark, musty, damp, moldy, smelly, grimy… She entertained herself by coming up with adjectives in her head. Dusty, stuffy, rank, mildewed…

She laughed quietly to herself. Krystal always claimed that Ember was horribly pessimistic. She was probably right. Ember always denied it, though. She claimed she wasn't pessimistic, but realistic.

Shabby, dilapidated, derelict, dull, filthy…

She had already examined her surroundings. The wooden door entered into a small, square room. The door couldn't open fully. Ember quickly discovered the cause: the door slammed into single twin bed was shoved into the front left corner, with sheets that was probably originally white, but were stained so much that it was difficult to tell. An empty, worn wooden truck was rammed up against the foot of the bed. Across from the door, a grimy window let in what little light lit the room. Peeling, faded yellow wall paper coated the walls. The wood floors were scuffed and battered. Her celling consisted of wooden beams. Across from the bed, a dirty mirror displayed the dismal room's reflection.

Ember had already seen the mirror. She knew what she looked like she did when she was ten: dark brunette pixie cut, large dimples, and freckles gracing her cheeks and nose. Luckily, she didn't scream. She rarely screamed.

She was just glad she got a room to herself. Most children in the orphanage slept two or more in a room. The reason she had a room to herself was simple.

It had been _Tom Riddle_'s.

She was running out of things to believe… Still, she _refused_ to think even for a _moment_ that she had fallen into that _stupid _book.

Just because she was in a bad mood didn't mean that she was pessimistic, right?

Cramped, repugnant, revolting, inadequate, structurally unsound…

Anyway, no one wanted the room because he had scared everyone there. Ember recalled the term the receptionist had used was 'devil's child'. She told the lady she wasn't superstitious, so she would be fine. The lady shook her head and muttered something about her being a 'stubborn American'.

Really, even if it _had_ been Voldemort's room, Ember would have taken it anyway just to be by herself. Besides, it's not like he was coming back or anything.

Unsightly, unappealing, horrid, appalling…

She pulled her bag out from under her bed. It was a dirty, gray clothe messenger bag, containing two items: the newspaper with the picture of Krystal and Avery and the item that had come with the bag.

Inside the bag was a freshly bond book. In fancy letters on the spine spelled out:

"THE MARAUDERS,

PREQUEL TO THE HARRY POTTER SERIES.

J. K. ROWLING"

Ember opened the book up. The first page read: "This book belongs to: Brandt"

She did a double take. _Her_ last name was _Brandt_.

Well, at home it was. Here, in the heart of London, she had made up the name 'Catherine Whitley'. It was the first British name she had come up with. It sounded nice, too.

Ember gasped. Below the inscription, print slowly appeared.

"_Do you want the name changed? It may save some complications."_

Ember sighed. "Yes, you might as well," she answered out loud, feeling stupid.

The word _'Brandt'_ disappeared, quickly replaced by _'C. Whitley'_.

"Thank you." Ember couldn't believe it: she was talking to a _book_.

"_You're welcome."_ The book paused._ "You should get used to the idea. Much stranger things will happen."_

She quietly laughed. "Like what?" she whispered back. "Being kidnapped? Turning into a ten year old? Landing in the middle of London? Having someone insist that I'm in the Harry Potter world?"

"_I appreciate the fact that you consider me a 'someone' instead of a 'something'. Most people aren't as polite."_

Ember shook her head and began to sing, "I am slowly going crazy…"

"_No, you are actually quite sane. You are probably the least crazy of the three of you."_

"Oh, well… That's _quite_ comforting… since my competition is _Avery_…" Ember retorted.

"_You're quite right. It isn't the best comparison I have made in my many years. I give you my condolences."_

"You're condolences? You want me to believe that you kidnapped me, but I have your condolences?" Ember moaned. "I'm not a dimwit."

The book paused a moment before responding. _"You are an interesting person."_

She snorted. "You noticed?! Really, because I thought the fact that I was a weirdo was concealed fairly well."

"_Are you going to continue being this… difficult?"_

"Yes," she bluntly answered. "What did you expect? You kidnapped me, remember?"

"_No, I've forgotten already."_

"Hey! Sarcasm is _my_ job."

"_Technically, it isn't kidnapping. You will return to reality eventually."_

"Well, if this isn't reality, where is this, dare I ask?" Ember put her hands on her hips.

"_As I have already indirectly insisted, you are inside of me, in a roundabout way."_

"And yet you are somehow 'magically' here."

"_It's complicated. It's more of a semblance of myself is here."_

"Lovely. Just lovely."

"_I have never heard the word 'lovely' used in such context."_

"I'm the one and only." Ember sighed. "I think we are going to get along _really_ well."

"_Yes, I'm sure,"_ appeared along the bottom of the page. Even though it wasn't verbal, she could almost swear she could hear the sarcasm. She smiled for the first time since she had arrived.

This was going to be a lot of fun, indeed.

"_I haven't heard anyone use the word 'indeed' in years."_

"You had better get used to it."

A _whole_ lot of fun.

**AN**

**Please review! Please, please, please... **

**No really, in all seriousness, please review. :)  
**

**Krystal and Avery got adopted! Yay!**

**Poor, poor Ember... **

**Now, even though it's pretty apparent:**

**_Disclaimer:_**

******I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would have to deal with editors and publishers... ick. ;)**


	7. Chapter 7: Letters, Wands, and Owls

Avery screamed.

"What is it?" Krystal called back, feeling a very odd sense of déjà vu. When had this happened before?

Krystal scrambled into the room, more curious than worried. Instead of a newspaper (by the time Krystal had entered the room, she had remembered), Avery waved two letters in the air.

"WE'RE GOING TO HOGWARTS!" Avery ecstatically bellowed.

Krystal froze, catching her foot on the rug. Her momentum threw her forward, careening into the wall. She landed sprawled on her back, still tangled in the rug.

Avery stopped cheering. "Are you alright?" she quietly inquired.

"Are you kidding?" Krystal retorted. Avery took a step back. "I'M GOING TO HOGWARTS!"

* * *

"Catherine!" a lady who worked at the orphanage called, sounding amused.

"Yes?" Ember responded, rushing into the room.

"You have a letter from a school," the woman answered. "You know, the last child that got a letter from this place lived in the same room as you do."

Ember gingerly took the letter and read the scrawling script that adorned the front of the envelope. "Thank you," she told the woman before retreating to her room.

"You're welcome," the woman replied to her retreating back.

Ember gently peeled back the glue holding the envelope shut and slid out the letter. A faint smile crossed her face for a moment.

She snuck out her bag and opened the book. She flipped past the page with her name and slipped the letter inside.

On the blank page, words rippled to the surface.

_ "You didn't think I would just let you miss out on all the fun, did you?"_

In response, Ember groaned and slammed the book shut.

* * *

Avery pushed her face up to the window, sneaking a peek inside the shop.

"It's dark in there," she commented.

"Inside," Mr. Jones instructed, opening the door.

"I can't believe it," Krystal happily sighed. "We're getting _wands_ at _Ollivanders'._"

"I know!" Avery answered, giddy with excitement. They both practically _skipped_ into the store while Mr. Jones held the door open for them. "Can I go first?"

"Sure…" Krystal replied, becoming antsy. She told herself she shouldn't be so apprehensive, but she still was.

Avery danced up to the counter, fluttering her new school robes. Behind the counter stood an older man with white hair and piercing, silvery eyes.

"Ah, the American girls from the newspaper," the man remarked. "I've been waiting for you." He stared intently at her for a moment before whirling around to a shelf behind him. "Oak, phoenix feather, 12 inches."

Avery gently took the wand and gave it a swish. "No," Ollivander muttered, snatching the wand back. After three more wands, Ollivander laughed with joy. "Holly, dragon heartstring, 12 ½ inches," he announced, handing Avery the wand in question.

Avery gave it a flick. A shower of sparkles and glitter flew out of the end, throwing rainbows of light around the room. She giggled. "How is this one?"

Ollivander nodded, absentmindedly. "Good at transfiguration, I see," he quietly murmured to himself. "Quick spells, too."

She turned the wand over in her hands, admiring the sleekness. It was dark, shiny, and streamline, with a lethal edge to it. The design was simple but bold. She loved it.

"How much is it?" Mr. Jones inquired, breaking both of their focuses.

"Seven galleons," Ollivander responded nonchalantly. "Next girl, please."

Avery bounced back to Mr. Jones, waving her new wand happily in the air. Krystal solemnly took her place. Ollivander scrutinized her and grabbed a box. "Try… maple, dragon heartstring, 11 inches."

Krystal gave it an experimental swipe. A putrid gas erupted from the end.

"Ew…" Avery giggled. "Your wand _farted_."

"Avery!" Krystal snapped.

"Sorry," Avery apologized. "But that _was_ funny."

By then, Ollivander had another wand ready. After another fail, he sighed and thought for a moment. Then, he disappeared behind a stack of boxes before returning. "Rowan, dragon heartstring, 12 ½ inches," he declared.

She took the wand from him and gave it a flourish. The tip of the wand sent off pink and red swirls. It was a bit of a lighter brown than Avery's, and the grain was clearly visible, giving it a more distinct look. It had a nice feel in her hand.

"Light, sleek, and nicely pliable," Ollivander commented. "That will be fourteen galleons total."

Mr. Jones quickly paid and the three left the shop. They started to head toward the Dusty Cauldron when Avery stopped midstride.

"Eyelot's Owl Emporium!" she cried. "Please can we go? We've got everything else! Please!"

Mr. Jones sighed. "Alright."

"Yes!" she gleefully bellowed, pumping her fist into the air.

"Thank you!" Krystal called over her shoulder as the two of them ran off. Mr. Jones laughed and shook his head. The two girls barreled into the shop. Instantly, they were surrounded by owls.

Within moments, Avery found the one for her. "Look at that one!" Avery demanded, pointing to a large black owl. Instantly, its eyes locked onto Avery's.

"She's a great horned owl," the shop keeper informed. "Normally they aren't black like that, but she's been specifically bred to have that trait. She's special." Avery grinned. She was perfect.

Krystal poked around the shop a bit longer while Avery admired her choice. Finally, she stopped by a small reddish brown owl. "This one is a tawny owl," the man informed. "A fine specimen, indeed. She's not a full adult yet, though."

The owl hooted softly, pleased at the praise she was receiving. She swiveled her head back to Krystal and examined her.

"Can I have this one?" Krystal inquired, pointing to the owl, which promptly flew up and landed on her arm. She giggled and stroked its head. The owl hooted affectionately.

"How much?" Mr. Jones probed.

"Well, since it's not full grown, she's only five galleons," Mr. Eyelot announced. "The other owl is mature, specially bred as well. She's going to be fifteen."

"Are you sure that's the one you want, Avery?" Mr. Jones queried.

"She's _perfect_!" Avery whined. The shiny black owl nodded its head in agreement.

"Alright," Mr. Jones yielded.

"I will be sad to see her go," Mr. Eyelot admitted. "I had even named her Ciara."

"That's pretty, I guess," Avery remarked.

"It means 'dark beauty' in Italian," he informed. "I thought it was very fitting."

"I like it," Avery announced, nodding her head. "I think I'll keep it. What are you naming yours?" The question was directed toward Krystal.

"I think I'll name her… Scarlet," Krystal revealed. The owl nodded its head again.

"I think she likes it," Avery stated, picking up Ciara's cage.

Avery, Krystal, and Mr. Jones exited the shop. "That's everything, right?" Mr. Jones inquired, juggling their supplies.

"I think so…" Krystal answered, setting her cage down so she could check the letter.

"Do we have to walk again?" Avery demanded. "My owl is heavy." Ciara hooted indignantly. "Sorry, but it _is_ true."

"I guess we can apparate," he conceded after some thought.

"Yes!" Avery shouted, pumping her fist and joggling Ciara in the process. The owl hooted crossly. "Sorry!"

* * *

Ember sighed. She really did do that too often. Oh well…

"Are you sure you want to get your wand at Ollivander's?" the woman insisted as they entered the shop. "You could get a perfectly good one at a second hand shop."

The woman, Mrs. Honey, was in charge of taking first year Muggle born children through Diagon Alley for their school supplies. It made sense, really. Otherwise, they wouldn't be able to get their materials.

The other children waited outside, already finished. Ember was the last one of the group, and on behalf of her being an orphan (she really was beginning to _despise_ the word), the school had allotted her a certain amount of money for her supplies. Ember had already worked out her plan.

"I am sure," Ember insisted. "I've done the calculations, and if I buy everything else used and wait until next year for an owl, I can get a wand here. A wand is the most important thing to buy new. The rest doesn't really matter."

"Very touching," Ollivander cut in. "You are a very smart girl. How about-" He disappeared behind the counter. "-elm, unicorn hair, 10 inches?"

Ember flicked the wand. Nothing happened.

"No," Ollivander mumbled. "Try birch, phoenix feather, 11 inches." Ember barely touched it before he put it back. "No…" After a few more tries, he was even more pleased. If she had not known it was typical of him, she might have been worried.

Finally, he took out the _tenth_ wand. "I've got it: cherry, dragon heartstring, 14 inches."

She took it from him and gave it a swish.

Instantly, the tip of the wand violently exploded, pitching sparks across the room. Fires leapt up where the sparks landed. Ollivander's robe burst into flame. One of the waiting customers screamed.

"Oh, no…" Ember muttered, flinging the wand away from her onto the counter. "I'm so sorry!"

"Finite incantatum," Ollivander proclaimed, putting out the scattered fires. Part of his eyebrow was singed off, and there was a large burnt patch on his robe.

"I'm _so_ sorry," she repeated.

"It is fine," he assured, examining his shop's destruction.

"Did I… _break_ it?" she finally inquired, filling the silence. The wand in question let off a slight trail of smoke.

"I have heard that question many times before, but none have ever been so warranted as this," he answered. "No, it is your wand. I've never quite seen one react like that before, however." He picked up the wand, scrutinizing it. "I rarely put cherry and dragon heartstring together… They don't get along very well, as you can see. Interesting…" He paused in thought for a moment.

"Powerful, strong-willed, and surprisingly swishy…" he finally remarked. "Five galleons."

"But I thought the wands here were seven galleons?" Ember queried. "Everyone else paid seven, at least."

"I am touched by your desire to get a new wand," Ollivander explained, "and your case rather intrigues me."

Ember handed him the five galleons. "Thank you so much, sir. I'm very sorry about the shop."

"You are welcome and forgiven. Tell me one thing: you are from America as well, are you not?"

"Yes," she confirmed. "Why?"

Ollivander laughed. "It is just an odd coincidence… There were two American orphans here earlier. It is not really that common."

"I've heard," Ember answered. "I haven't met them yet, though." That was true; she hadn't seen Avery or Krystal yet.

As she left the shop, a first year boy waved to her. "That was awesome!" he shouted. "I hope mine does that. See you around."

"Maybe," she replied and left.

Ember rolled her new wand over in her hands. It was long, straight, and slender. The wand was sturdier than it looked, but at the same time wasn't rigid, either. The surface was smooth and a pale white. The handle was comprised of carved vines the spiraled down it, meeting at the top and bottom with two rings of leaves. The simple but elegant design gave the wand a strong grip.

In short, the wand was strong, gangly, stubborn, and practical, kind of like her.

It _was_ fairly swishy, as well.

**AN**

**Hogwarts letters, owls, and wands! :D  
**

**Ember burned Ollivander's eyebrow off... :) Avery would have loved to see that.**

Avery: Yeah! Why wasn't I there?

**Ignore her. She'll go away eventually.**

Avery: Hey! Alright...

**Please review... I _like_ criticism, believe it or not...  
**

**Now, even though it's a _little_ obsessive:**

**_Disclaimer:_**

******I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would have a lot more fans. ;)**


	8. Chapter 8: Hogwarts Ho!

Avery jumped out of her bed, excitement coursing through her veins. She hadn't slept much that night. She darted out the door and into Krystal's room.

"Wake up!" Avery bellowed, shaking her awake.

"What?!" Krystal responded, hastily sitting up.

"We're going to Hogwarts!" Avery shouted.

Krystal yawned. "What time is it?" she groggily inquired.

Avery shrugged. "Five…"

Krystal moaned and pulled the covers over her head. "Wake me up in three hours…" she mumbled and went back to sleep.

Avery sighed and quietly left the room. She wandered back to her own room and began double checking everything.

Now that Avery and Krystal were staying, they both got their own rooms. They would have been fine with sharing, really. It was the _house_ that decided it. Apparently, the old Victorian had a mind of its own. While they were out clothes shopping, the house had created and decorated new rooms for them based on what they liked.

At first, Avery hadn't really believed it. She had just thought that Mr. Jones had done it. Then, she remembered the Room of Requirement from later in the series and decided that maybe the house had done it, after all.

Her room was painted a pale lime green with fuchsia trim and a white ceiling and door. The bed frame was white and the sheets were turquoise. The large windows brightly illuminated the small room. Both a rug and the curtains were lime green with turquoise polka dots.

Krystal's room was much less flashy. The walls, curtains, and bed sheets were all the same rosy pink. The ceiling, trim, and bed frame were painted white. Her room also had large, open windows, but the curtains were much thicker and let less light in. Avery thought that it was probably so that Krystal could sleep in later without any interference.

After an hour or so of waiting quietly, Twinkle knocked on the door. "Mistress Avery?" Twinkle softly queried.

"I'm up," Avery answered.

"Is there anything Twinkle can get Mistress Avery? Mistress Avery is having a big, big day today," Twinkle stated.

"Can you make a chocolate cake for dessert?" Avery hopefully suggested.

"Alright. Twinkle will go make cake now," Twinkle informed.

"Yes!" Avery whispered as Twinkle left. She got dressed in her new school uniform and scrutinized her reflection in the mirror. The blue streaks in her hair hadn't faded yet, but Avery knew it was only a matter of time. Her light brown hair fell just short of her shoulders, and her bangs that fell across the right side of her face were getting a little long. The uniform was fairly simple: a white shirt with a pleated black skirt, white socks, and shiny black leather shoes. It was a bit old fashioned for her, but it wasn't her fault she was from the future…

She didn't want to get anything with the house colors anyway, in case the matched a house she wasn't in. Not that she thought she would be in any house but Gryffindor. Sure, she was smart and got all A's, but there was no denying that adventure was her forte. Krystal would probably be Ravenclaw. She had the intelligence for it. Avery, however, was sure she would be a Gryffindor. She might have already gone out to buy red and gold stuff, but the thought of Ember's reaction stopped her.

Ember would have laughed or scoffed. When Avery thought about it, she probably would have done _both_. Ember was like that. She could be sarcastic, bossy, and a real dream killer… but she was always there when you needed her.

Ember almost always knew how to make her laugh, too. Avery missed that. Sure, Krystal was fun, but Ember was one of her best friends. She wondered what Ember was doing then…

* * *

Ember woke up and glanced out the window. The first light of dawn slowly crept its way over the dull, looming buildings and through the smog. She had never really liked cities. It was hard enough trying to drive through big cities like Nashville… it was other thing trying to live in one. She would enjoy being back in the country.

Ember rechecked and packed the contents of her truck, careful to cover the initials carved in the inside. She was naturally cautious, but even she knew that this was almost close to paranoia. Almost no one at this time knew Voldemort's real name. Even if they did, she doubted they would connect the initials to him. Although, if they knew that she was from an orphanage…

She really didn't want to be connected to Voldemort in any way. She didn't want that kind of attention.

Finally, she pulled out her bag from under her bed and added it to her supplies. She slipped out the book and opened it.

"Anything you want to tell me before I go?" Ember quietly inquired.

_"Nothing."_ The answer was blunt.

"Can you tell me why you're insisting on me doing this?"

_"What is the point of being in a story and not doing anything?"_

"Let me rephrase this: why did you kidnap me and drop me here?"

_"First of all: I did not 'kidnap' you. I thought I had already covered that. Second of all: you did this to yourself. I transport anyone who reads me, more or less."_

"'More or less'…?" Ember echoed.

_"I can choose not to,"_ appeared across the page. _"But since you are my owner, I let you in. I did not know at the time you would be so resentful."_

"Lovely," she groaned. "Just lovely."

_"I see nothing 'lovely' about this."_

"It's _sarcasm_."

_ "I know. It is just that you are sarcastic more frequently than not."_

"Get used to it."

_"You have said that before."_

"I know. I'm saying it again." Ember paused. "When can I leave?"

_"Whenever you want."_

She couldn't believe it. "And you couldn't have told me that earlier _because_?!" she snapped, her voice still no louder than a whisper. Even if she was irritated, she wouldn't lose control.

_"Once I admitted you into the story, I realized you wouldn't take it as well as I had thought. No one has ever been so-"_

"Displeased?" she shot. "Angered? Vexed? Troublesome?"

_"-suspicious."_

"So, basically, you didn't know I was paranoid."

_"If you would prefer it to be said that way: yes."_

"I just prefer to be frank."

_"I have noticed."_

"So I can go home right now?"

_"Krystal and Avery as well, although I doubt they will be pleased. They are enjoying themselves."_

Ember sighed and bowed her head. "Alright…" she mumbled, defeated. She knew she couldn't make them leave. It would crush Krystal, and Avery would kill her…

_"You still do not trust me."_

"Why should I?"

_"In time, I might change your mind,"_ the book responded across the bottom of the page.

"I highly doubt it," Ember replied, shutting the book and placing it in its spot in the trunk.

She dug out a textbook and opened it to the page where she had left off. She was sinking rather low… reading _textbooks_ for _fun_. She was _that_ bored.

She had always been a nerd, but she had never been this bad.

She remembered Avery's typical response when she said something like that. "Just keep telling yourself that."

* * *

Avery heard a tap on her window. She turned as Ciara opened the window with her beak and drifted to her perch.

"You're late," Avery noted, checking the time for the hundredth time (Okay, it was around the hundredth time… She wasn't _actually_ keeping track). It was 7:07. She got up and shut the window.

The majestic black owl hooted softly, cocking her head.

"I know I'm excited," Avery groaned, rolling her eyes. "You don't have to tell me."

The owl bobbed her head in agreement.

"It's going to be so fun. You know, I never thought I would actually be going to _Hogwarts_," Avery continued. "Do you think I'll make the quiditch team?" The owl nodded again.

"What do you think I'd play? I could _maybe_ do a Chaser…" The owl hooted in dissent. "I think I would make a better Beater, though." The owl made a snorting sound. "What?"

"I think she's saying you are _definitely_ a Beater," Krystal commented, opening the door and poking her head in.

Krystal was also dressed in her new clothes. She was dressed identically like Avery except for the fact that Krystal had pulled her socks all the way up whereas Avery had left them bunched up over her ankles. Krystal's short brown hair flipped out naturally at the bottom. Ember used to describe it as 'Nancy Drew style'.

As Krystal smiled cheerfully in, Avery thought she looked exactly like the perky boarding school girls that they always show in the movies. Krystal fit the bill pretty well.

Perched on Krystal's shoulder was Scarlet. The fluffy owlet chirped joyfully and fluttered its wings.

Twinkle scurried up. "Twinkle is finished with breakfast," she announced.

"Yes!" Avery replied, flying down the stairs. Krystal dashed after her. Scarlet took off, did a few loops around the girls, hooted enthusiastically, and flew back to her cage in Krystal's room. "Even Scarlet's excited to go to Hogwarts!" Avery remarked as the two bulleted into the dining room.

The two girls shoveled down their food in anticipation. As Mr. Jones walked in a few minutes later, the girls were almost finished.

"Hungry?" he joked.

"Excited," Avery answered between mouthfuls of waffles.

Once Avery and Krystal had finished, Twinkle left to bring in the dessert. Avery grinned mischievously.

"What did you do?" Krystal suspiciously demanded.

"Something awesome," Avery responded without further clarification.

Twinkle tottered back into the room, balancing a large chocolate cake in her arms. Krystal gasped in admiration. She _loved_ chocolate more than _anything_ else in the world. Well, _most_ everything else…

"No," Mr. Jones commanded, cutting their fantasies short. "The last thing you two need before your first day of school is sugar."

"Please?" Krystal begged. "Just one _tiny_ piece?"

He sighed. "Alright," he conceded. "But just a small piece…"

Avery and Krystal quickly scarfed down their 'small' pieces of chocolate cake.

"One more?" Krystal hopefully inquired.

"No," was the gentle but firm answer.

As soon as Mr. Jones finished, the two raced to grab their belongings. They tumbled down the stairs, causing Ciara to hoot indignantly and Scarlet to chatter eagerly.

"Whoa… Slow down," Mr. Jones instructed. "You need to save your energy. We're going to have to walk there."

* * *

Ember lugged her heavy, worn trunk into the King's Cross train station. She walked along, ignoring the stares of the 'Muggles'.

She halted ¾ of the way between stations nine and ten. She sighed and picked her trunk back up, which moaned in protest. Ember closed her eyes and forced her way through the wall.

Then, she opened her eyes. The Hogwarts Express gleamed in front of her, already filling up with students. Parents said their teary farewells to unappreciative sons and daughters. Pupils lugged their belongings on board. Prefects bounced from passenger to passenger, showing off badges and nagging anyone that got within hearing distance. That distance was only a few feet (or meters, since London used the metric system. She needed to get used to it) wide, and the general roar of the crowd was already giving her a headache.

Ember worked her way through them and toward the train. She had no one to say, "Goodbye," to, so she simply pushed through the crowd and escaped into an empty car. She knew it wouldn't stay empty for long, but she enjoyed the silence while it lasted. She took a window seat in the back corner and watched the people parting at the station.

Soon, her car filled up with more first years like herself. She quietly disappeared into the ruckus of the eager students, just as the station slowly vanished on the horizon.

* * *

Krystal and Avery darted into the station, anticipation building with every second. Mr. Jones walked casually behind them, his naturally long stride making up for some of the distance.

The three made their way to the stretch between stations nine and ten. With a whoop of excitement, Avery jumped through the wall disappearing from sight. Krystal closed her eyes and stepped through, looking much like she was stepping off a cliff and these were her final moments.

Instantly, the scene washed over her. The Hogwarts' train shone, filling up with other enthused students. Families embraced. Friends reunited. Loved ones waved. Parents boasted. Younger siblings giggled. Krystal smiled. Everything was just like she had imagined… This was the best day of her life.

Avery grinned. Magic, noise, and chaos were three of her favorite things.

"Good luck," Mr. Jones bade them. They turned to face him, absolutely ecstatic. "Here's some spending money for the train. Don't use it all up too quickly. Write me every once in a while when you get there."

"Goodbye," Krystal cut in, hugging him.

"Goodbye," Avery echoed. After a moment of consideration, she gave him a quick embrace.

He patted Krystal's back. "Most important of all, remember to have fun."

"Don't worry," Avery instructed. "We will."

With that, the two of them joyfully vanished into the fray. Mr. Jones sighed, a faint smile on his face. He would miss them. More than Twinkle would, even.

Avery and Krystal hurried onto the train and found an empty car. They put their trunks and owls up and sat down next to each other. A few minutes later, two boys entered.

"Hello," one greeted. He had messy black hair and brown eyes.

"Hi," Krystal and Avery responded.

"Wait a second…" he suddenly declared. "You're the American girls from the newspaper!"

"Yep," Avery answered. "Who are you?"

"I'm James Potter," he introduced. He pointed to the other boy, who had a pallid complexion and black hair that fell almost to his shoulders. "This is Sirius Black, my new best friend."

Avery and Krystal shared astonished glances. They were going to sit next to _the James Potter and Sirius Black._ Krystal's smile grew. Had she already thought that this was the _best day ever_?

"I'm Avery Jones," Avery announced.

"I'm Krystal," Krystal muttered, still in shock.

"Did you guys get adopted yet?" Sirius inquired.

"Duh…" Avery groaned, rolling her eyes. "Why else do you think my last name is 'Jones' now?"

"Jones…" James repeated. "You mean that rich ministry guy?"

"Um…" Krystal mumbled. "What does he look like?"

"He's tall, brown hair, has a stubbly beard, and is _rich_?" James described.

"Yep," Avery replied. "That's him."

"Lucky…" Sirius responded.

"Wait… Are you the boy that stole a broom in Diagon Alley?" Krystal queried.

"Yes," he boasted. "I almost got away with it, too."

"Not really," Avery remarked. "You got like ten feet."

Before James could defend himself, a pale boy with brown hair entered. "You guys mind if I sit here?" he inquired.

"Nope," James answered, plopping down on the seat facing the girls. Sirius slid in beside him.

"What's your name?" Sirius demanded.

"Remus," the boy answered hesitantly.

_Remus Lupin…_ Krystal was about to go _fanatic_. All of the Marauders, in the same room… Well, except Peter…

A small, chubby boy with mousy brown hair entered the room. "C-Can I sit here?" he shyly whispered.

"Sure, I guess," Avery answered with a shrug. "What's your name?"

"P-P-Peter P-Pettigrew…" he stuttered, sitting down on the far side of the train car.

"I'm James," James repeated.

"I'm Sirius," Sirius stated.

"Avery," Avery informed. "And Krystal," she declared while gesturing to Krystal.

"The American cousins," James clarified. "They got adopted by Thomas Jones from the Ministry."

"Well, we're 'sisters' now, I guess," Krystal corrected, "since we got adopted by the same person."

Remus nodded. "So, we're all first years, then."

"Yep," Avery affirmed. "Pretty much."

"You guys want to be friends if you don't become Slytherins?" James inquired.

"Sure," Avery answered. "But I'm pretty sure I'm going to be a Gryffindor."

"Me, too," James agreed.

"My mom wants me to be Slytherin," Sirius remarked. "So I'm trying really hard for Gryffindor. She would _hate_ that more than anything."

Remus shrugged. "I don't think I'm the Slytherin type."

"Friends, then?" James demanded.

"Yes," Sirius, Avery, Krystal, Remus, and Peter all spoke in chorus (well, mostly… it was a little off).

Krystal smiled. '_Best day ever!_' echoed in her head. She shared a glance with Avery and knew the same thing was racing through hers, too.

**AN**

**Hogwarts, here they come!**

**This is my longest chapter yet...**

**Avery: They noticed.**

**Oh, goodie. You're back. Anyway...**

**Avery and Krystal are friends with James, Sirius, Remus, and Peter!**

**Avery: Not Peter.**

**Krystal: Yeah. Not Peter. He's _evil... _:/  
**

**No, he's not... Wait, Krystal's here now, too.  
**

**Krystal: Yep. Avery showed me how. :D  
**

**Off course she did_.._. *eyeroll***

**Avery: You sound like Ember.**

**Krystal: Because she is Ember, remember? ;)  
**

**Avery: Oh, yeah...**

**Yeah. Anyway-**

**Avery: Read and Review!**

**Krystal: They already read it. :/  
**

**Avery: Oh, yeah... Okay... how about, 'Please Review!'**

**That's my line!  
**

**Krystal: All that sugar and excitement is getting to us. XD You better just get to the disclaimer.  
**

**You're right.  
**

**Now, even though I probably shouldn't take advice from my own characters:**

**Krystal: Hey! It was good advice! :'(**

**_Disclaimer:_**

******I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would have control over my own characters. ;)**

******Avery: You will never control me. ;)**

******I know... :(**


	9. Chapter 9: The Sorting

Avery and Krystal darted off the train, barely able to contain their excitement. James and Sirius struggled through the door, fighting to get out first. Behind them, calmly Remus stepped of the train, ducking his head and blending into the crowd. Ending the procession was Peter, who hesitantly exited. After a moment of standing awkwardly alone, he scurried after them, desperate to keep up.

In front of them was a line of carriages, quickly getting filled by previous students. To their right, a man with a bushy beard towered over the eager throng. "First years, this way!" he bellowed, gesturing to a row of boats.

"Hagrid…" Krystal whispered. Avery nodded enthusiastically.

James and Sirius dashed to the first boat. "Come on!" James called to others. Avery and Krystal shared looks. Avery shrugged and jogged over, with Krystal tagging along behind. Avery hopped in, rocking the boat to a precarious angle. Krystal hesitated before joining the three a little more gently. "Over here, mate!" he called to Remus, who was standing a distance away. Remus paused before gratefully uniting with them.

Krystal couldn't understand why Remus was acting so oddly. Then, it hit her: Remus was a _werewolf_. He probably was used to being an outcast. He might not have wanted to get his hopes up. She bet he was afraid that people would know, too. It hurt her a bit to think about it. Remus was one of her favorite characters.

James managed to coax Peter in. Peter seemed intimidated by James and Sirius, and looked very uncomfortable.

Hagrid got into the front of their boat. The man (well, half man/ half giant) was huge, making Krystal feel microscopic. She knew how sweet Hagrid was, however, so she wasn't afraid.

Soon, the stampede dwindled. Once Hagrid was sure that all the first years had arrived, the boats pushed off and drifted away.

Avery laughed, enjoying every moment. This is where she belonged. She could _feel_ it.

* * *

Ember found her way off the train and into one of the middle boats. She wasn't really excited, even though she knew she should be. She couldn't shake off the feeling that she didn't belong. It felt like she was intruding on someone else's life. Sure, it was great, but it wasn't really hers.

A girl with long dirty blonde hair plopped down next to her. "Hello," the girl greeted. "My name is Penelope White, but I go by Penny. What's yours?"

"Catherine Whitley," Ember bluntly responded.

"Oh, I bet we'll bet called up together, then," Penny stated. "They pick our houses in alphabetical order, you know. Where are you from? You don't sound like you're from around here."

"I'm American."

"I thought so. How long have you been here?" Penny inquired.

"Around four months," Ember answered. She wished Penny would go talk to someone else for a while. She wasn't really much of an outgoing person, and Penny was starting to wear her thin already.

"You're really new then. I bet you don't know much about Hogwarts. I've lived in London all my life, and my older brothers have told me all about it. I know almost everything about it. Do you have any brothers?"

Ember sighed. She had two younger brothers and one little sister… in the future. "I don't know."

"What do you mean? How could you not?"

"I woke up in an alley three months ago without any memory. I still can't remember anything more than my name," Ember quietly replied, hoping that would end the conversation.

Penny gasped and was silent for a while. Finally, she stammered, "I'm so sorry… I didn't know…"

Ember simply shrugged. She wasn't offended. In all truthfulness, she didn't really care.

"What did you do?" Penny probed.

"Some Muggles found me and brought me to the orphanage. The people there couldn't send back until I could remember my name, and by the time I had, they had given up on sending me home."

"That's awful…" Penny whispered. Penny had started talking to Catherine because she had been looked a bit shy and lonely. She had just wanted to cheer her up. Penny had realized that Catherine was probably poor because of her second hand apparel, but hadn't guessed anything close to Catherine's situation. Penny silently vowed to be her friend. She _needed_ one.

"Catherine is such a pretty name… unlike 'Penelope'. Do you have any nicknames?" Penny queried, trying to change to a happier subject.

"No," Ember answered truthfully. "And your name is fine."

"Oh, come on… You _must_ have had a nickname before… Catherine has _so_ many nicknames," Penny insisted. "Like Kate. Or Katie."

"I just go by Catherine."

"There's Cathy or Cat, too," Penny added.

"I definitely never went by 'Cathy'," Ember assured her.

Penny giggled. "Well, _Catherine_, if we get in the same house, can I call you Kate?"

"I guess," Ember answered with a shrug. "I don't really care."

"Just not _'Cathy'_," Penny mimicked, flashing Ember a bright smile.

Ember found herself smiling halfheartedly back. She wondered what Penny saw in her.

* * *

James suddenly stood up, almost knocking the boat over.

"James!" Avery shrieked as she was sprayed with water.

"Look!" he responded. They had reached their destination. The boats quickly pulled up to shore, and James and Sirius leapt off, rocking the boat even further.

"JAMES!" Avery (thoroughly soaked) bellowed jumping out after them. She socked him in the gut.

"Hey!" James gasped. "What was… that… for?"

Krystal giggled and Remus shook his head. "They're perfect for each other," Remus snickered. He stepped of the boat and helped Krystal out.

"No," Krystal contradicted absentmindedly. "I think he and Lily were made for each other."

Remus frowned as Krystal realized her mistake. "Who's Lily?" Remus inquired.

"Lily Evans," Krystal clarified. "I… uh… met her earlier." Remus shrugged, and Krystal sighed in relief. He bought her lie.

Just then, a red head girl walked past. As James and Avery continued to fight, he backed up into her.

"Hey!" the girl snapped. "Watch where you're going, stupid git."

"Sorry," James muttered. The red head pushed him out of the way and kept walking.

Sirius grinned devilishly. "Hey! What's your name?" he demanded.

The girl turned around. "Lilly Evans," she answered before continuing to the sorting hall.

"You're right," Remus admitted to Krystal. "They'll get along _just_ fine."

Sirius laughed. "James has got _girl_ problems."

"That wasn't my fault," James retorted, frowning. "It was _hers_." He pointed to Avery.

"Sure," Avery groaned, rolling her eyes. "I _made_ you start to throw a tantrum and run into her…"

"Exactly," James answered. "Now come on! I want sorted first!"

"It doesn't work like that…" Krystal called after him.

Remus shrugged. "He'll find out soon enough."

Krystal smiled back. This was going to be a fun year.

* * *

Avery grinned from ear to ear as she entered the sorting hall. She was finally here…

The room was separated into four sections. The bright House flags hung over each of the sections. Hogwarts professors stood on a platform in front of the whole school. In the center of the stage was a chair with a dusty black wizard hat on it. _The Sorting Hat…_

Avery wiggled in place as a wizard with fluffy white hair and beard stepped up to the front of the stage. She decided that he must be Dumbledore.

"Welcome, students!" Dumbledore called over the masses. Instantly, the room was silent. "I am Dumbledore. To all the new students and the students who 'forgot' over the summer: stay out of the Forbidden Forest. Before we do our sorting, let us sing the Hogwarts song. Sing to whatever tune you want!" he cheerfully instructed.

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something, please,"

Krystal giggled and burst into a cheerful melody. James bellowed out the words, enjoying the odd looks people sent him. Avery and Sirius both shrugged and followed along.

"Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

"James," Avery whispered, "you sounded like a dying whale."

"No," Sirius mumbled back, "you sounded like a dying whale giving birth to an elephant."

"Hey!" James snapped, muffled a bit by Sirius jabbing him in the ribs.

Krystal giggled again. "He wasn't _quite _that bad."

"Thank you," James stated.

"Probably more like a dying whale giving birth to ababy whale while stranded on a beach," Krystal suggested.

James scowled and Remus snickered.

"Quiet!" Penny rebuffed.

"Sorry," Krystal whispered back.

"Sheesh," James muttered. "What's wrong with her?"

"Yeah, who's she?" Sirius questioned.

"No clue," James answered. "But I bet she'll be a Ravenclaw for sure. They're all know-it-alls who couldn't have any fun if they're life depended on it."

"We can hear you, you know," Ember snapped. "Maybe if you _whispered_ like Penny suggested, we wouldn't be able hear you."

"Sheesh…" James repeated and Krystal giggled.

"Sorry…" she apologized for them. "James is a total lug head."

Ember froze for a second before replying, "I can _hear_."

Penny turned to Ember. "Thanks," she whispered.

Ember shrugged. "You're welcome."

"Let the sorting commence!" Professor Dumbledore bellowed. Instantly, the crowd cheered.

"Finally!" Avery cried eager to go.

"Ugh…" Krystal moaned. "I'm a 'J'… I'll have to wait _forever_..."

James stopped cheering. "It's in _alphabetical_ _order_? I'm a 'P'!"

"Ha!" Avery sneered. "I'm before you _and _Krystal."

Sirius grinned evilly. "I'm a 'B'," he boasted. "So I'm before you all."

"No fair…" Krystal whined.

"Anderson, Fredrick!" was announced, ending their conversation.

A small blond boy nervously mounted the stage. Professor Dumbledore placed the hat over his head. After a pause, the _hat_ shouted, "HUFFLEPUFF!"

The yellow and black section of the room roared in approval.

"Cool," Sirius remarked. "The hat talks."

"You didn't know that?" Avery scoffed.

"No, off course not," James replied. "He's a git."

Sirius glared between the two of them. Before he could reply, the hat shouted, "SLYTHERIN!"

"Oo, a slimy snake lover," James sneered over the congratulations from the green and silver tables.

"Black, Sirius!"

"Wish me luck!" Sirius called to them as he disappeared. After a minute or so, the hat cried, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"YES!" Sirius bellowed and bounded off the stage. The red and gold quarter of the room howled in praise.

After multiple other people went, they called Lily. She was happily proclaimed a: "GRYFFINDOR!"

It was a few more insufferable minutes until the next of the group was called. "Jones, Avery!"

"Yes!" Avery shouted, running up onto the stage and plopping onto the chair. The hat was placed over her eyes.

_"Excited, I can see…"_ suddenly appeared in her head. It was a good thing she had read the Harry Potter books to know that it was the hat.

_"We have had many Potters, but never a 'Harry' Potter."_

_ "It's a made up story about here,"_ Avery thought as truthfully as she could without revealing anything. _"Can I be a Gryffindor?"_

_ "Yes, I think that is the best for you… Unless…"_

_ "What?!"_ Avery thought, frightened.

"GRYFFINDOR!" Avery sighed in relief. _"I must have some fun…"_ she heard just as the hat was removed from her head.

"YES!" Avery yelled, racing toward the Gryffindors. She gave Sirius a high five.

"Glad to see you join us," he stated in a superior voice, grinning from ear to ear.

"Glad to be here!" she answered, ecstatic. She was a Gryffindor!

"Jones, Krystal!"

Krystal waved to the James, Lupin, and Peter before practically _skipping_ onto the stage. As she sat down on the stool and they placed the hat on her head, a wave of nervousness, anticipation, and apprehension hit her all at once. She would _die_ if she was a Slytherin…

_"I doubt you would physically die."_

No, but she would kill herself…

_"Quite dramatic. You are the first person today not to be surprised to hear a hat talking to them…"_ the hat noted.

That was probably because she had had weirder things happen to her before… This was semi normal for her. Multiple events came to mind.

_"I see…" _ The hat sounded amused.

She bet she would be a Ravenclaw… She had the intelligence for it. She would miss Avery and Sirius and James and Remus, though.

_"How do you know James Potter will be a Gryffindor?"_

"Well, right now, it's mostly self-proclaimed, although I'm pretty sure," Krystal quietly answered out loud.

_"I think I have placed you…"_ Moments later, the hat announced, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"Thank you…" Krystal whispered to the hat and jumped off the stool. Then, she ran over to Avery and hugged her. Avery and Sirius shared looks before Avery shrugged and hugged her back. Then, she tried to hug Sirius, who staggered back defensively. Avery shot him a pointed look, which made Krystal giggle. "I'm a _GRYFFINDOR_!" she gleefully shouted.

"Lupin, Remus!"

Remus strode onto the stage and calmly sat down. After a moment or two, the hat cried, "GRYFFINDOR!" Remus hurried over to the group.

As they congratulated each other, "Moores, Emily!" was quickly announced a "HUFFLEPUFF!"

After a shorter wait, they called Peter. He nervously mounted the stage and cowered on the stool. The sorting hat (somewhat reluctantly) called, "GRYFFINDOR!"

"I didn't think that he would make it," Avery admitted. "He's scared of a _hat_."

"Avery!" Krystal snapped. "That's not nice, even if it is Peter."

"What do you have against Peter?" Lupin inquired.

"Peter…" Krystal started, trying to find a good alibi.

"-was the name of a traitor in a book series we both read," Avery finished. "Neither of us liked him. And, isn't Peter the one that betrayed everybody in the Narnia books to the snow queen or whatever? And, there's this traitor named Peter in the Divergence trilogy, which is this super awesome book series that Krystal hasn't read that yet…" She trailed off. "Anyway, now I don't like the name Peter. It's ruined."

"Okay…" Sirius muttered. "Someone's gone insane."

"Yeah!" Avery snapped. "You did!"

"Quiet!" Krystal instructed.

Just then, "GRYFFINDOR!" rung through the hall. Avery and Sirius turned to see James triumphantly marching toward their table.

"I told you so," he smugly announced.

"Those two idiots missed it," Krystal replied, gesturing to Sirius and Avery.

"What?" James demanded, angrily. Sirius shrugged and Avery scowled.

"It was _his_ fault," she explained.

"Was not!" Sirius jumped from his seat.

"Was so!"

"WAS NOT!" Sirius bellowed. Most everyone turned and glared at him. A few Slytherins snickered. He instantly sat down and ducked his head. Avery laughed.

"Was so…" she taunted quietly. Sirius stuck his tongue out at her. She laughed even harder.

After all of their gang had been called, Sirius and James had trouble remaining occupied. Soon, they were thoroughly bored.

"Snape, Severus!"

"Can we eat yet?" Sirius groaned.

"Shush!" Krystal replied, watching the sorting.

"But I'm hungry!"

"Be quiet!" Avery snapped, sending him a pointed glare. He was quiet for a few moments.

"But-"

"I will punch you," Avery warned. More silence.

"SLYTHERIN!"

"Oo, a slimy, slithering snake lover," Sirius sneered.

"SHUT UP!" Avery demanded, fed up. Sirius cowered a bit, grinning from ear to ear.

Finally, they reached the 'W's.

"White, Penelope!" A girl with dirty blonde hair confidently mounted the stage.

"What kind of name is '_Penelope'_?" Sirius snickered.

"What kind of name is '_Sirius'_?" Avery sneered. "Especially when you _aren't_ serious."

"It's a family name, that's what it is," Sirius responded.

"RAVENCLAW!"

"Told you so," James pompously declared.

"That it's a family name...?" Avery inquired, confused.

"No!" James retorted. "That that blonde girl would be a Ravenclaw."

"Whitley, Catherine!" Ember walked toward the stage. She was the last one to go.

"What girl?" Sirius demanded.

"The girl that just went?" Krystal tried. "You know, that told you to shut up earlier?"

"You missed it again?" James groaned, rather deflated.

Ember put the sorting hat on her head.

_"Another American?"_

_"Yes,"_ Ember answered.

_"Also not fazed, I see."_

_ "What did Krystal show you?"_ Ember inquired. _"I would have thought she would have been a Ravenclaw."_

The hat relayed a very interesting incident back to Ember.

_"Yes, that was pretty funny…"_ Ember responded.

_"You are Ember, are you not?"_ the hat probed. _"That's odd; they called you 'Catherine', I believe."_

_ "Because I told them so,"_ Ember answered. _"They wouldn't have believed me if I had told them I was a girl from the future that was transported here by a book, would they? Actually, they might. Dumbledore is a bit wacky."_

_ "Interesting…"_ the hat murmured, digging through Ember's memories of arriving in London. _"We must talk more at a later date."_

_ "Alright,"_ she replied. _"But now, I think I should get sorted to Ravenclaw before people wonder what's wrong."_

_"You are very sure."_

_ "I took advanced classes at my school, read all my textbooks before I even arrived here, calculated-"_

_ "Yes, that's enough,_" it interjected. "RAVENCLAW!"

The hat was removed from her head. Professor Dumbledore gave her a curious look. "We were having an interesting conversation," Ember informed. "He thought my name was 'Ember' for some reason. Do I look like any Embers that came here?"

"No," Professor Dumbledore assured. Ember shrugged and joined Penny with the other Ravenclaws.

"Congratulations, Catherine!" Penny greeted.

"Hey, Penny," Ember responded.

"What was _that_ about?" an older girl, probably fifth year, demanded.

"We were having a conversation," Ember enlightened, "and I politely told him to sort me before everyone starved to death."

"I doubt anyone would die of starvation," another Ravenclaw scorned.

"It's a common American hyperbole," Ember explained. She received a couple of blank expressions. "It's figure of speech used to greatly over exaggerate an idea to put more emphasis on it."

"She certainly belongs here," an older boy joked.

"That's what the Sorting Hat said," Ember remarked.

"I can see why," a sixth year teased.

"Well, isn't Ravenclaw for the intelligent students?" Ember demanded. "I'm from America, so I'm still catching on, but I'm fairly certain that Ravenclaw was for the smart students."

"Most of the time," Penny answered. "But somehow my brother got in-"

"I'm smarter than you," a blonde boy, probably fourth year, retorted.

Before Penny could counter, Professor Dumbledore motioned for silence. "I need to tell you all something very important before we eat: hickory dickory dock. Now, let the feasting commence!"

Instantly, food appeared on the tables. Penny gasped in awe.

"Cheers!" James called, knocking glasses with Sirius. They both slashed each other in the face.

"Looks fun," Avery suggested. "Can I try?" She took her full glass and raised it as if she was going to dump in on Sirius' head.

"Avery!" Krystal scorned.

"What?" Avery moaned.

"Those poor house elves worked hard to make this feast," Krystal explained. "You don't want to waste it."

"Yeah," James agreed. "Find someone more worthy of dumping it on."

"Like Bellatrix," Sirius suggested. "She's my _horrible_ cousin. My mum _loves_ her. My mom is always like, '_You should be more like Bellatrix,'_ or, _'Why couldn't I have had a son like Bellatrix.'_" He used a high pitched, ridiculous voice to mimic his mother. James laughed so hard that he started to choke on the roll he was eating.

"Too bad Ember couldn't be here…" Krystal sighed. "She would have _loved _this."

"Who's Ember?" Remus inquired.

"A friend from back in America," Avery supplied. "Eve would have had a lot of fun, too." She paused. "I bet we freaked Ember out leaving like that."

"No," Krystal disagreed. "It takes a lot to freak her out."

"You're right," Avery concede, almost disappointed. "The boogie man could kidnap her and she'd still keep her cool."

Krystal giggled, but Remus looked confused. "Who's the 'boogie man'? And what is she keeping 'cool'?"

Krystal giggled even harder. "The boogie man is this made up monster that's supposed to scare little kids," Krystal clarified, "and to 'keep her cool' means that it takes a lot to scare her."

"No one really says 'the boogie man' anymore," Avery added. "Well, except Eve, but she's goofy like that."

Remus nodded. The three stared at James and Sirius, who were wresting loudly over a bowl of rolls. Krystal couldn't help but notice Peter sitting quietly by himself, poking at his food. She couldn't help but remember what Ember had argued right before they had disappeared:

_"I don't like him. I just have sympathy for him. He didn't want to do what he did, but he didn't have enough courage to defy Voldemort. When he finally does rebel, he's killed because of it… James tormented him! The only reason he let him hang around was so he could make fun of him… He just wanted fit in."_

When Ember had debated this, Krystal had just blindly disagreed. Peter was _pure_ _evil_… or was he? As she saw him sitting alone, she wasn't so sure. Maybe Ember _had_ been right.

Either way, she felt a pit in her stomach. Remus followed her gaze. "He looks a bit lonely," Remus noted.

"I'm going to go sit with him," Krystal spoke before realizing what that meant. She was choosing _Peter_ over the _Marauders_. Some of Avery's craziness must have rubbed off on her.

She stood up and picked up her plate. "Me, too," Remus asserted, surprising her. He smiled weakly at her.

The two walked over to Peter. "Do you mind if we sit here?" Krystal softly queried.

"Sure," Peter timidly answered.

Krystal and Remus both sat down across from Peter. Krystal cast a glance toward Avery, James, and Sirius, who were too busy bickering to notice their departure.

Then, she did the unthinkable. She had a pleasant conversation with Peter Pettigrew.

**AN**

**Krystal and Avery are Gryffindors! :D**

**Ember (AKA 'Catherine')-**

**Avery: AKA YOU.**

**is a Ravenclaw!**

**Avery: No duh. Why do they bother reading it at all if you're just going to repeat everything here? **

**As you can see, she's still not gone. Maybe later...**

**Avery: I doubt it.**

**Whatever. Krystal is warming up to Peter...**

**Avery: I still don't like him. :P**

**Wait? Is Krystal gone?**

**Krystal: Nope. I just don't have much to say. I'm too busy eating the chocolate cake. ;) And Peter _is_ evil... Just not yet, maybe?  
**

**Suite yourselves.**

**Sirius: Why is Peter evil? **

**Avery: GET OUT! ANNOYING VIEWERS IS _MY_ JOB!**

**I'm just going to skip ahead to the disclaimer before this gets ugly.**

**Now, even though it's getting old:**

**_Disclaimer:_**

******I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I wouldn't get to be the star character, now, would I? ;)**

******Avery: You are _not_ the star character.**

******I know. It's a joke.**

******Avery: I am. :P**

******A joke? Yes, we know.**

******Avery: No-**

******Oh, look at the time...**

******Avery: NO-**


	10. Chapter 10: First Letters (and Howler!)

Krystal woke up with a start. She had been having a weird dream. She was at Hogwarts and the fire alarm was going off…

"BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!" something wailed. Krystal bolted upright. Maybe only half of it was a dream…

"What is that?!" a girl demanded over the din.

"JAMES POTTER, YOU WILL PAY FOR THIS!" another voice shrieked.

That wasn't exactly the half of the dream Krystal was expecting to be real.

She was at _Hogwarts _(her dream school!) and was friends with _Sirius_ _Black _(her favorite character of _all_ time!). She couldn't believe it. It was too good to be true…

"It wasn't me!" James cried defensively.

"We're not idiots!" Avery retorted. "Turn it off, NOW!"

"Sirius did it!" James yelped.

"I did NOT," Sirius denied. "It was _your_ idea."

Krystal giggled. She ran down the stairs and entered the Gryffindor common room, elated. There, she saw the most _interesting_ scene…

James was pinned to a wall on the far side of the room by many angry Gryffindor girls. A seventh year girl pointed a wand menacingly at his face, with Avery and Lilly right behind her. A couple sixth year boys stood farther back, laughing. James pleaded for Sirius, also standing a cautious distance back, to help him. Sirius grinned and refused.

Krystal shook her head, laughing. "Come on, James?" she called lightly. "Did you really have to set off a hex on the first day of school?"

"Sirius did it!" James claimed wildly again.

"Come on, guys. It's almost time for breakfast," Remus announced from the stairs to the boys dormitories. "Let's let him off easy this time and go eat."

The girls reluctantly left to get dressed, leaving James alone next to the wall. Avery lingered a while longer, glaring. "You better watch your back, Potter," Avery calmly suggested with a look on her face that Krystal could only describe as _evil. _"Because I am _so_ going to get even."

Sirius laughed as Avery stalked off. "I believe her," he stated.

"You should," Krystal answered. "She generally does mean most of her threats."

James laughed. "I'm not scared of her."

"You should be!" Avery called down the stairs. James faltered.

"I'm a girl magnet," James teased. "Did you see how they swarmed me? I'm going to have dates left and right."

"I doubt it," Remus remarked. "Are you going to thank me for saving you?"

"I could have got out of that by myself," James muttered.

"Sure…" Remus replied, rolling his eyes.

Krystal giggled and went to get dressed. When she entered her dormitory, Avery and Lilly were talking bitterly with each other.

"We're planning how to get even," Avery explained as Krystal sent her a curious glance.

"We're both Muggle borns, so that gives us an advantage," Lilly added.

"Do you have any suggestions?" Avery probed.

"Not at the moment," Krystal admitted. "Give me some time."

"I'll think of something…" Avery insisted. "Revenge is what I do best. Well, no, I take that back… I best at finding loopholes and debating stuff. Okay, revenge is what I do third best."

Krystal giggled and threw on her robe. "I'm hungry. How about you guys?"

"Me, too," Avery admitted. "Let's go plan while we eat."

* * *

"Do you always read your textbooks like this?" Penny inquired.

Ember looked up from her book. She hadn't known Penny was up. "No," she answered truthfully. "Only when I'm desperate."

Ember had woken up early and slipped down to her common room. It was a large, round blue room with a doomed ceiling that had stars painted on it. Blue and bronze banners hung from the walls and a statue of the founder, Rowena Ravenclaw, stood in the center. Although she admired all this, her favorite part of the room was the wonderful view of the mountains. She had watched the sun rise over their peaks earlier, wishing that she had her camera on her. She knew it wouldn't have worked anyway.

"You could have woken me up," Penny stated.

"I doubt you would have wanted to be up two hours ago," Ember commented.

"Two hours?" Penny exclaimed. "You're right; you didn't need to wake me up."

Ember laughed. "That's what I thought at the time." She picked up her books. "What time is it?"

"It's almost eight," Penny declared. "You want to get some breakfast?"

"Sure," Ember sighed, putting her book back into her bag and throwing it over her shoulder.

* * *

When the three girls entered the Great Hall, James waved them over. Krystal sent Lilly an apologetic look and dragged Avery over to sit with him. Peter, Sirius, and Remus were already seated.

"You better be careful," Krystal hazarded. "Avery's plotting her revenge."

"I've got some ideas," Avery cheerfully admitted. "And I have the whole rest of the year to put them into action."

James shuddered.

Before he could answer, however, the owls flooded the room. Krystal gasped in amazement. It was so beautiful…

Ciara elegantly swooped down and landed on the table next to Avery. She dropped the letter from her beak in front of Avery. Then, with a brief nod, she flew off.

"Cool…" Sirius breathed. "That's _your_ owl?"

"Yep," Avery replied. "Her name's Ciara. Like her?"

"Yeah," Sirius replied. "She's cool."

Avery grinned. "Thanks."

Scarlet flew over to Krystal and landed on her shoulder with a squeak. The letter fell onto Krystal's lap. She giggled and picked it up.

"Thank you," she told her owl, who chirped back. "I'm glad to see you too," she informed, rubbing Scarlet behind her ear. Scarlet chirped again and fluttered her wings. With a flourish, the little owl took off and flew to the owlery.

Krystal tore open her letter and began to read.

_"Dear Krystal,_

_ How was your first night? What house did you get in? _

_ Twinkle misses you already. She will be fine, but for now, she is content with moping around the house. I had to reassure her that you were coming home for Christmas._

_ Have you made any friends yet? I am sure you will have many by the time the year is over. You are very friendly and outgoing to say the least._

_ Your owl seems to be in high spirits; she is begging for me to finish so she can deliver it. She is certainly eager to set off._

_ I guess I will cut my letter short for her. Be careful and keep Avery out of trouble for me. Make sure to write. _

_ Sincerely,_

_ Mr. Jones"_

Krystal tucked the letter into the pocket of her robe. She had meant to write him a letter the night before, but by the time she had gotten to her room, she was too tired. She resolved to write him back after her classes.

Just then, Sirius opened a letter from his mother. Not just any letter- a howler. Soon, he was engulfed by all the reasons he dishonored the very Black name itself. Most everyone in the cafeteria turned and stared. At the end, Sirius stood on his seat and bowed. All of the Gryffindors applauded, along with a majority of Hufflepuff.

* * *

Ember sighed as she watched the multitude owls flood into the Great Hall. She wistfully watched their flight, knowing she would probably never afford one.

"Look at all those owls!" Penny proclaimed, taken in by their multitude and beauty.

"It's the first day of school," Ember stated. "They're from all the worried parents wondering how their precious children are doing. Just wait a couple of months; there won't be any."

"You're probably right," Penny admitted. "But it's still amazing… Look, there's Phantom!" She pointed to a beige owl with a white underside. It swooped and dropped a letter in front of Penny. "Hi, Phantom," she greeted. The owl barked back and flew off.

"Nice barn owl," Ember complimented. "I like the name, too. It's very clever."

"Well, the owls would jump from the rafters of their barn and chase Muggles out… They used to think that they were ghosts," Penny explained. "I didn't want to name him 'Barney' or anything generic like that, so I named him Phantom."

Ember nodded. She had known that. She also knew that barn owls rarely hooted, but kind of barked or screeched. She was a know-it-all by nature, and if something interested her, she would delve into it. Owls interested her.

Her favorite owls were the snowy owls, because of their intelligence and fierce disposition. They were very protective of their young; they would even attack wolves if they got to close to their nests, which were carved out of the ground. They rarely made any sound. Hence, she was thoroughly annoyed when in the Harry Potter movies, the owl that had played Hedwig was a male. It was obvious. Male snowy owls were completely white, while female owls had black or brown bars on their feathers.

"What's your owl like?" Penny inquired.

"I don't have one."

"A cat?" Penny tried.

"Nope."

"Don't tell me you have a rat or a frog or something."

"Good, because I don't," Ember flatly responded.

"You don't have a pet?" Penny queried in disbelief.

"No, and since I won't ever be getting any letters, I think I'll be fine," Ember replied.

Penny looked down, feeling a bit melancholy. She kept hitting bad subjects… She was in Ravenclaw, why can't she act like it?

To Penny's relief, Ember quickly changed the subject. "Who's the letter from?"

Penny laughed. "Just like you said, it's from my mother."

Ember nodded with a smile. She poked her toast around while Penny read. When Penny had finished, she inquired, "What is about?"

"The usual," Penny stated. "'How are you? What house are you in? Is your brother fine? Do you have any friends yet? Did you forget anything?' You know, just the normal over protective parent stuff. "

Ember nodded. She knew what that felt like. When she was younger, she hadn't been allowed to go to her best friend's birthday party because, _'You could get kidnapped or hurt!'_ She had known the girl for _five_ _years_. She had had parties before and all the girls had come back alive, then. It had irritated her to say the least. At least they had been loosening up about it more before she had disappeared.

Penny groaned to herself. Another bad subject… What was with her today?

"Are you alright?" Ember queried.

"Yeah," Penny mumbled, shaking her head. "I'm fine." She reached into her bag and pulled out a quill and some paper. "I should write her back now… Otherwise, she'll panic." Ember smiled understandingly.

A howler bellowed from the other end of the room, ranting at a student for not being a Slytherin, as if he had some control over it. At the end, the accused first year stood on the table and bowed.

Penny rolled her eyes. "Well, I was about to say that that mother was a horrible parent, but I'm starting to sympathize with her."

"I wouldn't blame him. You know, its probably the mother's fault. She's probably mistreated him until he became spiteful," Ember suggested.

"Maybe, but I still can't believe people are actually applauding for him."

"Do you see me applauding? My lack of approval is for a reason."

* * *

Ember went with Penny later as she delivered letter. As Ember waited, she noticed a sign on the door. It read, "HELP WANTED IN OWLERY. SEE PROFFESSOR SILVANUS KETTLEBURN FOR DETAILS."

"Look," Ember commanded to Penny after she had finished.

"What do you think it will be doing?" Penny inquired.

"I don't know," Ember admitted, looking around. "Probably shoveling pellets and droppings."

"Ew…" Penny moaned. "You can count me out."

"I don't know. I'm interested, though," Ember replied. "And trust me; I've done much worse. This would probably be more like cleaning a litter box, just on a much grander scale."

"What could possibly be worse?"

"Do you really want to know?" Ember probed. "Because, I've done some pretty nasty stuff…"

"Yeah, I take that back. Don't tell me," Penny instructed.

"Are you sure?"

"How do you remember?" Penny suspiciously demanded.

"Well," Ember sighed. "I remember a bit more now, but it's mostly the really dramatic memories. Such as cleaning maggots-"

"EW, CATHERINE!" Penny shrieked. "I said _NOT _to tell me!"

"Sorry," Ember apologized. "I was just explaining why I could remember it."

* * *

Krystal and Avery sighed when they entered the dormitories. For Krystal, it was a happy sigh. Her dreams had come true. For Avery, it was more of an exhausted sigh. So much work on the first day… It took a lot of energy to keep up with James and Sirius, too. Also, she had to work out her revenge.

Krystal had also politely reminded her that she had barely slept the night before. Avery _had_ stayed up talking late into the night. Not the _whole_ night… just most.

Krystal and Avery quickly penned their letters to Mr. Jones and went to sleep. They would post them in the morning.

Krystal lay awake, staring at the ceiling. After a while, she whispered, "Avery?"

"Yeah?" she responded sleepily.

"I wish Ember were here."

"Me, too…" Avery yawned.

"It's not as fun without her," Krystal sighed.

"Are you kidding…?" Avery murmured. "She would find a way to ruin it. She always does…" With that, she fell asleep.

Krystal didn't really agree, but she didn't say anything. She knew it was pointless to fight with Avery.

She rolled over so that she faced the window. The crescent moon illuminated the small room. Millions of stars twinkled in the ebony sky.

She had to admit, the sky looked much more beautiful here. Here, free of the lights and pollutants, the city traffic… Living in 1971 had its perks.

A shooting star dipped across the sky, a faint white streak that gradually faded into nothingness. It was gone almost as quickly as it had appeared. Right as Krystal fell asleep, she made a wish: Ember would be there with them. She couldn't help feeling that Ember was there, watching out for her…

It would be a while before she realized just how true it was.

**A**N

**Milestone! Ten chapters! I'll stick with this... I promise. :)**

**You-Know-Who and You-Know-Who-Two are asleep, so they won't be bothering us.**

**Poor Ember goes unloved by Avery...**

**Avery: What...? *rolls over and goes back to sleep***

**Close call. Anyway, Ember is not a total drag. She's just the one with common sense in the group.**

**Avery: Somebody has too, and it's _not_ going to be me. *yawns***

**True, true... **

**From now on, everything is going to be a lot quicker paced. :)**

**Now, even though it's getting a bit redundant:**

**Disclaimer:**

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would have made Neville Longbottom marry Luna Lovegood. ;)**

**Avery: They are nice together... Now, be quiet. I'm trying to dream of horrible ways to kill James...**


	11. Chapter 11: First Quidditch Match

Soon, time seemed to fly for Krystal and Avery. Some of the excitement seemed to die down, but Krystal was rarely sad. She was at _Hogwarts_. How could she possibly be unhappy?

As things calmed down, Avery was happy where she had landed. She was friends with the famous Marauders, plus Lily Evans and many other Gryffindors. Unlike Sirius and James, Avery was also on the teachers' good side.

James and Sirius had managed to get a detention in every class in less than a week. Avery teased them that they needed to pace themselves. Otherwise, they would run out of pranks and retorts.

James responded that he would change to hexes, then. Sirius agreed.

Peter, much to Krystal's dislike, turned out to be very polite and nice, if a bit shy. _"How could he have ever turned evil?"_ Krystal wondered silently, watching him help another first up after James tripped her. He didn't seem evil at all.

Krystal found herself liking Peter, even if it was a little begrudgingly. He was nice and didn't mind that she was a bit… animated. He just liked her friendship.

Maybe Ember really had been right: Peter had been just a lonely boy that got pushed too far. Krystal still didn't quite believe it. She was more inclined to think that as he got older, he would change. He was going to be a _Marauder_. How could a _Marauder_ possibly be lonely?

* * *

Ember quietly approached Professor Kettleburn after class. "Excuse me?" she inquired. Penny lingered behind her.

"Yes?" the professor replied.

"Have you given anyone the job in the owlery?" Ember queried.

"No," the professor answered. "I had two seventh years that helped me last year, but as you can tell, they're gone now. I still haven't had any applications. Why?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could apply," she explained. "I'm good with animals and I have some experience with the Muggle equivalents of animal care. I don't care if the job is messy, I catch on pretty quickly, and I'm a hard worker."

"I'm sorry," he replied. "I know you're a good student, but I'm looking for someone a _bit_ older than you. A fourth year, maybe…"

"Oh," she replied. "Well, thank you anyway. I'm sorry to trouble you." She shrugged to Penny and they both left.

She couldn't help think of the irony. Technically, she was already older than the fourth year students. She was sixteen; the oldest fourth years would be fifteen. Off course, being stuck in a twelve year old's body was rather hindering in that aspect.

"It was worth a try," Penny consoled as they headed for their next class.

"Yeah…" Ember sighed, trailing off.

"And tomorrow's the first quidditch match of the year," Penny enthusiastically reminded. Ember shot her a very sheepish glance. "You'll _love_ it," Penny insisted. "I promise."

* * *

Krystal, Avery, and the other Gryffindors poured into the quidditch stands. They were about to watch the first quidditch game of the year. The opening game was Gryffindor against Slytherin. The two girls and the soon to be Marauders found their way to the top of the stands.

"Um… Avery?!" Krystal anxiously inquired.

"YES?" Avery called over the crowd.

"I'm… kind of… afraid of heights…" Krystal admitted as they climbed up the stairs.

"Just don't look down!" Avery answered. "You'll be fine!"

Krystal nervously laughed at how _outrageous_ that was. 'Just don't look down'? Was she _trying_ to mock her? You can't just tell someone that's afraid of heights not to look down. It doesn't really work like that…

They sat on the _highest_ row. James dangled his feet off the edge. "Look how high up we are! If you fell, you would-"

"James!" Avery snapped, jabbing him in the stomach. He lost his balance and slipped a bit. Krystal was starting to feel sick…

"What?" he demanded. Avery gestured toward Krystal, who was turning a pale, sickly color. "Hey, she looks like Sirius!"

"I do _not_!" Sirius denied. "Remus, can you trade spots with me?"

"Sure. Why?"

"When Krystal pukes, I want to be as far away as possible," Sirius explained as the two swapped places.

"Wonderful," Krystal groaned.

"Are you alright?" Remus probed.

"She's afraid of heights," Avery explained.

"You should have said something," Remus stated. "We could have sat lower down."

"I don't want to ruin your fun," Krystal muttered. "I'm fine…"

The stadium quickly filled up. Krystal simply closed her eyes, pretending she was on a roller coaster. For some reason, she wasn't scared, then.

She remembered the time that she went with her choir to the state fair and made Ember ride all of the rides with her… There was one ride in particular that Krystal was excited to go on: a huge vertical loop of track. In the center of the car, the seats faced toward each other. Krystal sat on one side and Ember sat on the other facing her.

Ember hadn't been enthusiastic about most of the rides Krystal had picked. She hated any ride that made the rider go upside-down… Unfortunately, most of Krystal's picks did.

They buckled up and the car went back and forth until it got enough momentum to rocket in a full circle. From there, it blasted in circles, rushing faster and faster and faster… Then, it froze at the apex of the ride, with the passengers hanging upside-down.

"Why do I ride these with you?!" Ember shouted to her, clinging to the shoulder restraints. The question was rhetorical; they both knew why. Ember didn't want to leave her alone with a bunch of strangers. She was a naturally suspicious person. She kind of felt obligated to take care of Krystal, as well.

Krystal appreciated it, but she wished that Ember would relax. She was fine on her own. She didn't need Ember babysitting her. She was six_teen_… not six.

"I'm sorry!" Krystal had called back.

"Don't say that!" Ember commanded.

"Why not?"

"Because you aren't sorry!" Ember answered.

"Yes, I am!" she shouted.

"No, you're not!" Ember insisted.

"Maybe not, but still-" she called as the car plunged back down the loop _backwards_. She screamed all the way around, throwing her hands into the air and laughing gleefully. It was some of the most fun she had in her life.

Ember hadn't screamed once the entire time they were there. No matter how scary, no matter how sudden, no matter how much of a drop… She never screamed. Krystal thought Ember prided herself in that a bit. It _was_ kind of impressive.

Krystal preferred more of a 'laugh uncontrollably and scream in joy all the way down' technique, though. Actually, most of the time she couldn't help it…

* * *

"Come on!" Penny insisted. "It's the first quidditch game of the year! We can't be late!"

Ember groaned. "Ravenclaw isn't even playing…"

"Catherine!" Penny groaned. "We have to size up our competition!"

"Why? We're not playing…" Ember pointed out.

"Do you _want_ to lose the house cup?" Penny demanded.

"I don't see why sports should be a part of it," Ember groaned. "It's not logical to say the least."

"Just stop thinking about it!" Penny commanded.

"You know, I'm coming whether you nag me about it or not," Ember informed. "I'll just be more contrary if you keep bringing it up."

"Fine," Penny groaned. "Just hurry up."

"FIRST ON THE FIELD, IT'S… GRYFFINDOR!" the announcer called to the eager crowd. Krystal winced and opened her eyes. It was _so_ loud… She didn't deal very well with loud noises, either. Or crowds… Why was she here, again? It seemed like a _much_ better idea a few minutes ago…

Then, the Gryffindors rushed onto the field, their scarlet and gold robs flapping around them. They swirled around the field, flashes of bright color. Krystal gasped.

"I'm going to be on the quidditch team," James boasted. "I'll crush everyone else single handedly."

"I bet I'm going to be a Beater," Avery announced.

Sirius nodded. "I wouldn't doubt it." He presented a rather large purple bruise on his arm. "She can beat things hard enough."

"That was _your_ fault," Avery snapped. James and Remus snickered.

"NEXT ON THE FIELD, IT'S… SLYTHERIN!" The crowd opposite of the Gryffindors bellowed and clapped.

A few Gryffindors jeered as six green and silver streaks zipped onto the field. They zoomed around the edges before breaking into an offensive position.

Madam Hooch, the flying instructor, was refereeing. With her approval, the two teams burst into action.

Krystal found herself sitting at the edge of her bleachers. She surprised herself. She normally wasn't into sports.

Avery, Sirius, and James roared as Gryffindor scored points, moaned as Slytherin did, and bellowed as a foul was called on the Gryffindor Chaser and Captain, a seventh year boy named Cooper Dalton.

"It was _obviously_ the _Slytherin's_ fault!" James hollered.

"YEAH!" Avery boisterously agreed. "_He_ hit Coop, not the other way around!"

After an hour, the game was tied: 100-100. Then, the Snitch appeared, darting across the left side of the field. The Gryffindor Seeker saw it first, but the Slytherin Seeker was closer. The two were neck and neck… The Slytherin Seeker grabbed the lead… This could cost Gryffindor the game…

Just then, the Snitch plummeted unexpectedly. The Slytherin Seeker didn't have time to react. The Gryffindor Seeker did a nose dive… Both Seekers dropped to the ground and finally swooped back up. The whole crowd froze in anticipation. Then…

The Gryffindor Seeker held the Snitch triumphantly in the air. The crowd exploded.

"GRYFFINDOR WINS THE MATCH, 250-100!" the announcer declared over the raucous crowd. Avery, James, and Sirius jumped up, giving high fives to anyone in reach. Krystal covered her ears, wincing in pain. Nevertheless, she wore a bright grin on her face. The Gryffindors were the champions.

* * *

Penny turned to Ember and smiled. "So, Catherine, is it better than you expected?"

"Can we go now?" was Ember's response.

"Seriously?!" Penny demanded. "After watching that, you _still_ don't like quidditch?"

"Not especially," Ember admitted. "Isn't it kind of like American football (I think it's called rugby here) but on a broom?"

"Rugby doesn't have bats, though," Penny pointed out.

"It's just rugby and baseball (well, cricket, here) on a broom," Ember amended.

Penny sighed. "I can tell you don't like sports."

"I like baseball," Ember countered. "I would rather play it than watch it, though. Oh, and kickball and dodge ball are both fun every once in a while."

Penny groaned. "You are _impossible_."

"I'm all brains, no bronze," Ember teased.

"No fun, either," Penny joked.

Ember responded by sticking her tongue out. Penny burst out laughing, and Ember smiled smugly. For a nerd, she thought she had a decent sense of humor.

* * *

Krystal joined her friends' celebration in the common room. Everyone swarmed the Cooper to congratulate him.

"He thinks that I would be a good quidditch player," James beamed.

"He tells everybody that," Sirius chided.

"Still, when the Seeker leaves next year, they'll be a spot for me," James retorted. "And if I tell the new Captain that Coop promotions me, I'll get it for sure."

Avery rolled her eyes. "Well, when I become Beater, I'll get the spot because I'm totally awesome, not just because I tricked the new Captain."

"I'll be awesome on top of it," James sneered. "They'll be no way that they can deny me."

Krystal giggled and shook her head. In the books, they never stated what position James played, but J. K. Rowling herself claimed that he was a Chaser. Ember did mention before, however, that the movie made him a Seeker… It was a somewhat controversial subject between the two of them.

Ember generally doesn't side with movies (she prefers cannon), so she brought up a scene from the books themselves to support her argument. Her defense was simply that in one of Snape's memories, James was playing with a Snitch outside to impress people. She stated he would have only had a Snitch if he was a Seeker.

Krystal had quite bluntly retorted that just because James had stolen a Snitch did not make him a Seeker. She claimed he was merely a Chaser that had stolen the Snitch to look cooler. Playing with a Quaffle doesn't make much of an impression. Playing with a Snitch would.

It would be interesting to see who was correct.

"Did you see the look on Slughorn's face?" Sirius laughed. "It was hilarious! I thought he was going to kill them!"

Krystal giggled. Professor Slughorn _hadn't_ looked very happy… She gambled he would be insufferable the next day…

* * *

The day after the match, Krystal noticed that a Ravenclaw girl named Catherine was called up by Professor Kettleburn after class. Krystal remembered that she was the same girl that stood up for the blonde Ravenclaw on the first day. She thought that Catherine looked vaguely familiar, but couldn't remember from where. She was American, too, as the lack of accent suggested. Maybe she was someone's parent or something. Krystal decided she would think more about it later. She needed to focus on getting everyone to the next class on time (James and Sirius tended to be late… sometimes they caused Avery to be late as well).

Catherine arrived late for the next class. She handed an excuse to Professor McGonagall before sitting next to her friend, the blonde Ravenclaw girl.

"What was _that_ about?" the blonde whispered.

"I got the job!" Catherine whispered.

"Really? That's great! I thought he said he wanted someone older, though…" the blonde stated with a smile.

"He said I could stand in until he got someone else."

Even though she was curious, Krystal turned her attention to the teacher. She was good at transfiguration and generally enjoyed it. Besides, she didn't like to pry.

**AN**

**Hi! I think I just set the record for shortest time between posts... ;)**

**Avery: Maybe a personal one?**

**Krystal: You posted two on the day you came back from vacation...**

**Those don't count. They weren't ready on the same day. **

**Krystal: Just trying to help.**

**Gryffindor wins their first match. Will it be enough to win the House Cup?**

**Avery: Why are you asking the readers? Do they know something I don't?**

**It was rhetorical.**

**Avery: Oh...**

**As Lady Loophole (aka. Avery) pointed out to me, the spell checker on my computer changed Lily's name to 'Lilly' in all of the last chapter... I didn't catch it until too late. Sorry, Lily! :( **

**Krystal: I feel for you. The spell check on my Kindle is so annoying... It kept changing ********PSYCHIC into ********PHYSIC in my story Pokemon Rangers: Heroes of Obliva, and I didn't find out until Chapter 23 or so...**

******Avery: Oo... I feel your pain. Yeah, Ember laughs at me when the spell check on my phone does crazy stuff, so I have little pity when hers goofs off. This is my revenge. :D**

**Now, even though it's getting harder to think of quirky things to put here:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would never have killed Fred… or Remus… or Tonks… :'( **

**Krystal: What about Sirius?**

**At least his death was kind of poetic…**

**Krystal: You would kill him?! MURDERER!**

**That's not what I wrote…**

**Avery: What about Dumbledore?**

**The story doesn't really work without him dying. Besides, that wasn't half as sad as when Fred dies…**

**Avery: Agreed. Cedric?**

**Does it matter?**

**Avery: I'll leave if you answer it.**

**Alright. I liked him, but I would probably have to kill him anyway… :(**

**Avery: Really?**

**You promised. :P**

**Avery: Noooooo-**


	12. Chapter 12: The Halloween Mice

Avery, Krystal, and Remus were working on a report for Professor Binns in the common room when James and Sirius stumbled in.

"Ew…" Krystal groaned, holding her nose.

"What did you do now?" Avery demanded, trying to wave the smell away.

"Well, Sirius and I thought it would be funny to hex the Hufflepuffs…" James explained.

"So we tried to break into the Hufflepuff common room…" continued Sirius.

"That explains it," Remus answered, promptly leaving for fresher air.

"What?" Avery inquired.

"The Hufflepuff's common room is near the kitchen," Krystal informed between giggles. "When an intruder tries to break in, it dumps a barrel of vinegar on them."

"Oh…" Sirius mumbled.

James groaned. "Couldn't you have told us that _before _we got soaked?"

"You didn't ask me," Krystal defended. "I would have told you."

"Great…" James muttered.

Lily laughed from the other end of the room. "Looks like you got what you deserved," Lily taunted.

James glowered, but didn't respond. Instead, he stomped up to the dormitory with Sirius trailing behind him.

Avery snickered. "Do the other houses have booby traps?" she queried.

"No," Krystal answered. "Just the Hufflepuffs."

"That's no fun…" Avery moaned.

Krystal giggled again. "How is your revenge going?"

Lily sighed. "We haven't got anything good yet," she bitterly informed.

"Well, we've got lots of good stuff…" Avery amended. "None of it is good _enough_, though."

"You'll think of something," Krystal assured, going back to her report.

Lily looked up from her Astronomy report. "Can you help me with this?" she inquired. "I don't understand this part."

"Sure," Krystal answered. "Oh, it's almost a full moon, which is why this part of your illustration is off."

"Thanks," Lily replied, correcting her diagram.

Krystal's words echoed in Remus' head. _"It's almost full moon…"_ This would be his first full moon at Hogwarts, and he wasn't looking forward to it.

* * *

Penny wrinkled her nose in disgust. "I can't believe you actually _want_ to do this."

Ember paused for a moment before shrugging and going back to sweeping. "It's not really that bad," she claimed. Every day during break period between her afternoon classes, Ember helped out in the owlery. It wasn't anything interesting, really. Each day she rotated between sections of the enormous tower, removing soiled bedding and replacing it with new straw. Most days, she was alone with the owls. Sometimes students would come up to deliver letters, but they rarely talked to her, which she was fine with. Penny generally studied or hung out with her other friends. Ember didn't really mind. She liked being alone every once in a while.

Penny shook her head. "I don't get it. He's not even paying you. Why?" she inquired, surveying the mess.

"I like animals," Ember sighed. "It's quiet up here, too. And I like… doing something. At the end of the day, I can feel like I actually accomplished something."

"What about schoolwork?" Penny insisted. "That's doing something."

"That comes too easy," Ember countered. "I'm too smart for my own good, so I'm venting my energy on other tasks."

"Let me get this straight: you're saying that you're so smart that you have to scoop owl poop to feel good about yourself?" Penny teased.

"More or less," Ember teased back.

"You are strange," Penny declared.

"I'm deeply offended," Ember mocked. "'Strange' has a _very_ negative connotation. I prefer the term 'weird', although I might settle for 'odd'."

Penny giggled. "Alright, you're weird."

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Very," Penny replied, giggling even harder.

* * *

"Where is Remus?" Krystal inquired.

"Oh, he says he's not feeling well," James inquired indifferently. "He went to Madam Pomfrey's yesterday. He says he might miss class today."

"Oh, that's terrible," Krystal sympathized.

"What's yesterday's date?" Avery demanded.

"Um… Don't you mean _today's_ date?" Krystal inquired.

"No, I forgot to do my essay for Professor McGonagall," Avery explained.

"Oh… well, yesterday was the fourth, I think," Krystal supplied.

"Okay," Avery answered, scribbling furiously. "October... 4th..."

"We had an essay?" Sirius exclaimed.

"Yeah…" Krystal replied.

"Can I copy yours?" he queried, digging in his bag for a quill.

"I think you can do your own," Krystal stated. "It's only one scroll."

"One scroll?!" Sirius groaned. "I'm doomed."

James snickered. "I think you are, mate. I think you are."

* * *

Sirius stopped short at the mouth of the Great Hall, marveling the decor. Avery bolted around the corner, colliding into him. "Hey!" she snapped, punching him playfully in the shoulder.

James soon appeared around the corner, with Krystal, Remus, and Peter trailing behind. "They are really serious about holidays," James muttered, taking in the Hall. It was decked from floor to ceiling in Halloween decorations.

"It's _nothing_ like what _I_ would do," Sirius countered. "Nothing about this says 'Sirius' at all."

"He's not talking about _you_," Avery snickered. "He means the _adult_ serious, not _you_ Sirius, dimwit."

"It was a joke, you git," Sirius retorted.

"Did you just call me a _GIT_?!" Avery indignantly snarled.

"Um… Let's go eat the feast and not kill me?" Sirius hopefully suggested.

"SIRIUS, I AM GOING TO-"

"-not hurt me?" he humorously tried as he defensively throwing his arms in front of him.

Avery was about to sock him when Krystal grabbed her arm. "Come on…" Krystal implored. "It's Halloween! Let's try not to ruin it… Please?" Avery hesitated and looked into Krystal's pleading eyes. After a moment, she caved and lowered her fist. Krystal _loved_ Halloween… It would crush her if they wrecked it.

"Alright…" Avery sighed. "I'll let you off easy… _this_ time." Sirius smirked at her and eagerly darted to their seats at the banquet. The others trailed behind.

All through the feast, James grinned mischievously. Finally, Avery lost her patience. "What are you planning?" Avery suspiciously demanded.

"You'll see," he cryptically responded.

Moments later, multiply screams echoed through the room. A group of Hufflepuff girls stood up on their seats, shrieking. "RAT!" a Hufflepuff boy shouted.

James and Sirius exchanged looks before bursting into laughter and hi-fiving. Avery rolled her eyes, Remus groaned, and Krystal scanned the floor nervously. There was a _rat?_ She _hated_ rats… and bugs… and spiders…

"Eek!" a Slytherin girl cried. Soon, there were also shouts from the green and silver section. James and Sirius snickered even harder.

"It's not a _rat_!" a Ravenclaw girl informed to the hysteric crowd. Krystal identified the speaker as Catherine. "It's a _mouse_! Rats are bigger and bite much harder."

"They _BITE_?!" someone demanded, even more frantic than before. The students at the Ravenclaw table snickered.

After a few minutes, the two mice were captured. One was caught by a seventh year Gryffindor boy, and the other by Catherine. Krystal watched as Catherine teased her friend (what was her name again? Pepper? Poppy?) with it before presenting it to the teachers sitting at the head table. Professor Dumbledore chuckled, but the rest seemed annoyed, disgusted, or both. They quickly dismissed her and the older boy. Catherine took his rodent and disappeared out of the Hall.

"Does anyone confess to bringing those two _mice_ to our otherwise lovely feast?" Professor Dumbledore inquired. Silence filled the Great Hall. "Then I will assume that they got here in a more natural fashion." Professor Fudge (the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher) was about to protest when Professor Dumbledore silenced him. "Let the feasting continue!"

James burst into laughter. "What do you think?" he pompously queried.

"That was pitiful," Avery derided, making James unpuff his chest. "Only two? And it wasn't very dramatic, really."

"Didn't you hear those Slytherins, though?" James insisted. "They all screamed like girls."

"Maybe because only the girls were screaming," Remus pointed out. "You need to work on it a bit."

James groaned. "You really didn't like it?"

"I thought it was funny," Sirius spoke up. James took his one vote of approval and left the subject.

"Is Halloween always like this here?" Krystal inquired, filling in the silence.

"Pretty much," Remus answered. "Why?"

"Well, in America, the kids all dress up," she explained. "At night, we would knock on people's doors and they would give us chocolate and candy and stuff."

"They gave you chocolate? For free?" James skeptically probed.

"Yep," Krystal answered.

"What sort of 'dressing up' would you have to do?" Sirius grilled. "Suits and dress robes or-"

"No, stupid," Avery chided. "You dress up in _costumes_."

"Like monsters and stuff?" James queried.

"Yes," Krystal clarified. "Like monsters and stuff. Or fairies, movie stars, princesses, book characters, pirates, super heroes-"

"We get it," James interjected. "So, you put on a costume, you get candy?"

"That's pretty much Halloween in a nutshell," Avery admitted.

"It must be some Muggle thing," Sirius remarked. "I've never heard of it."

"Hey!" Avery exclaimed. "Muggles are cool, too."

"Muggles are-" Sirius started.

"You don't tell Muggle borns that Muggles-" James chided, stopping short when Avery glared at him. "What? I didn't say anything, yet."

"You were going to, though," Avery countered.

"Well, I said 'yet', didn't I?"

**AN**

**Sorry I've been gone for a while. I haven't been able to get on my laptop.**

**Avery: I'm mad at you. You cut me off last chapter.**

**Moving right along...**

**Poor, poor Remus... :( But, on the upside, even Avery and Krystal don't suspect anything yet.**

**Avery: Well, I already know. Why should I suspect anything? **

**Really?**

**Avery: Just remind me: what am I not suspecting again?**

**I thought so. Anyway, Ember's poop scooping and mice catching.**

**Avery: Lucky her. ;)**

**And Avery is forgetting her homework.**

**Avery: I never remember homework, even before Hogwarts.**

**I know. I created you.**

**Avery: Did not!**

**Actually, I did. Sure, it was based off of a real person, but your still mine.**

**Oh, and October 4th, 1971 actually _was_ a full moon in England. ;)**

**Avery: Nerd. :P And I still think I created myself.**

**I know I'm a nerd. Why else would I be fighting with a figment of my imagination?**

**Krystal: You know, reality is a figment of your imagination. **

**I know, I know...**

**Avery: Really? That's scary.**

**Yeah... Try this on for size: Since _I created you_, I know everything that you know. Like that time you stole Krystal's cookies...**

**Krystal: So that's where they went! I thought for sure that James had stolen them.**

**Avery: Creepy... if it was true, which it's not.**

**Let's just go to the disclaimer.**

**Avery: That's probably best.**

**Now, even though it's odd that Avery and I are on the same page:**

**Avery: I know... Is the world ending? ;)**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would keep better track of my characters. ;)**

**Avery: Guess not.**

**I keep track of them all... most of the time.**

**Avery: No, not that! I guess the world isn't ending after all.**

**Wow... one track mind you have there. Oh, and we still have time.**

**Avery: Eek.**


	13. Chapter 13: Lily's Christmas Caper

Avery sighed. "Let me get this straight: you want _me_ to help _you_ prank _him_?"

James and Sirius exchanged looks. "Well… um…" Sirius mumbled.

"I'm in," Avery replied, throwing both boys off balance. "_Somebody_ needs to help you."

"We were doing fine on our own," James countered.

"Oh, yeah? Why do you need my help, then?" Avery retorted.

"Maybe we don't!" Sirius shot back.

"Well, you already asked me, so it's too late to turn back," she announced. "I've got a really good idea. We'll need some-"

Just then, Severus Snape, who they were planning on pranking, caught sight of Lily and gestured to her. Lily saw him waving and darted over to him. They began to chat animatedly.

"Isn't that Lily Evans?" James demanded, interrupting Avery.

"Well, since she's the only red head Gryffindor girl at the moment, I would say, 'yes'," Avery responded.

"And that's our slimy Severus?"

"Duh…" Sirius chided.

"And they're _talking together_? That's _treason!"_ James cried.

"It is, isn't it?" Sirius answered.

"I _knew_ I didn't like her, but I never knew she was _that_ bad…" James muttered.

Avery smirked. She knew that James wouldn't hate Lily for long…

"-pay for this," James continued, interupting her day dream. "We'll make sure that a Gryffindor is never seen near one of those slimy snakes again." After a dramatic pause, James inquired, "Are you in, blondie?"

"I'm not blonde!" Avery snapped. "My hair is _light_ _brown_."

"With those ugly green streaks," Sirius added.

"They _used_ to be blue," Avery groaned. "Then they kind of… faded."

"Are you in?" James repeated, ignoring their digression.

"Of course. I said I would help you with your prank, didn't I?" Avery reminded.

"Well, you seem to be close to that _traitor_," James pointed out, refusing to call Lily by her name. "I didn't know if you were going to defend her or something."

Avery sighed, thinking it over. Lily _was_ her friend… and Snape wasn't really 'evil' yet… James was right, though. Gryffindors and Slytherins do not… no, _should not_ mix. "I'm still in."

"What should we do?" Sirius inquired.

James snickered. "Something they'll _never_ forget."

* * *

"Guess what today is," Krystal commanded.

"I don't know…" Avery admitted. "What's the date?"

"November the twenty fifth," Peter declared.

"Now do you know?" Krystal queried.

"You're birthday?" Remus guessed.

"No…" Krystal answered. After pausing a moment, she gave up waiting. "It's Thanksgiving!"

"Thanks… giving…?" Remus repeated.

"It's an American holiday," Avery pointed out.

"Oh, yeah…" Krystal replied. "I guess it kind of has to be."

"What's it about?" James demanded.

"It celebrates this big feast the pilgrims had when they found out they weren't going to starve to death," Avery informed. "Every year you're supposed to cook this big dinner and feed it to everyone in your family. Kind of like Christmas."

"Not exactly…" Krystal murmured.

"A family reunion…?" Sirius mumbled. "I'm glad we don't celebrate it here…"

"Yeah," Avery agreed. "My family was really _weird_…"

Krystal giggled. "I always liked it. Except for the part that it's the only holiday without chocolate."

"It sounds okay," Peter remarked.

"I doubt my family would get together," Remus stated.

"Why?" Avery demanded.

"Well…" he started before breaking off.

"You want me to behave in front of my whole family without chocolate? Not going to happen," James announced, saving Remus from having to answer.

"I'm sure that would be chaos," Krystal agreed. "You know what my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is?"

"What?" Avery inquired.

"It means it's almost Christmas!" Krystal happily remarked.

"It's still November," Remus pointed out.

"Oh, don't rain on my parade," Krystal teased.

"Well, it's true," Avery admitted. Krystal glared at her and they all burst out laughing.

* * *

Krystal began singing Christmas songs the day after Thanksgiving. When questioned, she answered, "I had a friend who disliked that radio stations broadcasted Christmas songs before Thanksgiving. So, I wanted until after Thanksgiving to sing them." That friend was Ember.

Avery had sighed and groaned, "That's real funny, because I remember you were singing Christmas songs in July."

"That was _after_ Christmas," Krystal explained. "Not before." Avery rolled her eyes but left the subject at that.

Finally, December came. Krystal felt so sad for Remus… On the first, he had to leave Hogwarts to go to his great aunt's funeral. Someone dying in the Christmas season just made her depressed. Remus assured her that it wasn't an aunt he had known well. He got back on the third, looking a little pale. Krystal suspected that he may have liked her better than he admitted.

James pulled Avery over one day after class. "Are you still in?" he demanded.

"In what…?"

"The prank!" he whispered matter-of-factly.

"Duh!" Avery chided. "I've been thinking about it and-"

"Quieter!" he commanded. "Do you want all of Hogwarts to hear you?!" Avery laughed, desperate to keep a straight face. "What?"

"James Potter… telling me… that I'm too loud…" she gasped between laughter. "That's the… funniest thing I… ever heard…"

"Oh, pipe it!" James snapped. "If we're going to do this, we better do it before Christmas break."

"Okay…" Avery responded, becoming serious. "I've got a good idea of what to do…"

* * *

"JAMES POTTER! I WILL KILL YOU!" someone bellowed. James and Sirius snickered, Krystal groaned, Remus rolled his eyes, Peter jumped, and Avery shook her head.

"It's not even Christmas and I swear that's the most popular ever said phrase in this school," Avery pointed out.

Lily Evans stormed into the common room, wand out and robes flying. The sight would have been terrifying if not for the fact that she was a ten year old with the words 'Slimy Snake Lover' scrawled in large, shiny green letters across her forehead. They were a stark contrast to her fiery red hair and pale skin.

"Oh, Lily, did you get a tattoo?" Sirius mockingly inquired. "It's lovely really."

"Matches your eyes quite perfectly," James added.

In a perfectly calm voice, Lily announce, "I am going to kill you both."

"Maybe if you weren't hanging out with 'slimy snakes', you wouldn't have the fact on your forehead," Sirius suggested.

"And with Severus on top of that!" James agreed. "Do you think it would kill him to wash his hair?"

"Maybe," Sirius responded. "I guess he is a _very_ slimy snake."

"That's it," Lily quietly declared. "You are _so_ dead." She raised her wand and bellowed, "STUPEFY!"

Krystal shrieked, jumping out of her seat. Remus quickly blocked the spell before it could reach the two.

"Oo, I'm scared…" James taunted.

Hence, the hex war begun.

"Protego!" Krystal shouted as a hex flew for her head, blocking it just in time. Peter scurried out of the room and Krystal made a dash for the exit. "Stop, guys!" she shouted, thoroughly frightened. James and Sirius had gone too far this time…

Remus stayed in the room, defending a few stray students caught in the fray while trying to keep the three from killing each other. Avery remained in her seat for a few moments, enjoying the chaos. As a blast almost got Krystal, she decided enough was enough.

So, she spoke her mind. "ENOUGH!" Everyone in the room froze and turned to her. "Krystal _told_ you guys to stop. That means _stop_." Surprised silence filled the air. "And, if a teacher finds us like this, we'll lose the House Cup for sure. Maybe even to Slytherin. Besides, if you kill each other now, you can't do it better later. Everybody got it?"

After a moment, Lily spoke, "You're right. They aren't worth it," and stormed out of the room. James and Sirius shrugged.

"That's one loud mouth you have there," James teased.

"Oh, pipe it!" Avery muttered. "I just saved your butts." She walked over to Krystal (still sprawled in the doorway) and helped her up.

"Thanks," Krystal muttered, surprised at Avery's actions.

"Sisters have to stick together, right?" Avery teased.

Krystal smiled back. She liked having a sister… "Let's go help Lily get that stuff off her face," she suggested.

"Sure," Avery answered, and the two girls started to go to their dormitories. James tried to follow after them, but the stairs melted into a slide and he landed sprawled on his back. "Hey!" he groaned as Sirius doubled over laughing.

"Magic staircase…" Krystal explained. "No boys are allowed."

"Sorry," Avery taunted. "I guess the founders' didn't trust boys… They must have seen you in a vision…"

"Oh, be quiet," James muttered, rolling his eyes. Sirius started laughing all over again.

"Do you need some help?" Krystal inquired as they entered their dormitory.

"It won't come off," Lily sighed. "I've tried everything I can think of."

"Try this," Avery suggested, grabbing a book from her trunk and flipping to a page she had previously bookmarked. She pointed to a counter charm for something called: Sermones Super Faciem. Lily sent her an odd glance. "Just try it."

Krystal picked up the book and read the incantation. "Interesting…" she mumbled. "But it might work. If anything, it can't really get much worse."

"You might as well try it," Lily grumbled. "It's worth a shot. Who wants to do it?"

"I will," Krystal sighed. "Brace yourself." Krystal spoke the words cleanly and precisely, giving her wand a flick at the end. The words vanished off of Lily's face.

"Yes!" Lily sighed.

"That was a very specialized spell," Krystal noted. "I'm surprised it worked. Let's just hope you don't get the side effects."

"Side effects…?" Lily echoed. She picked up the book and read them for herself. Rashes, peeling, headaches, sore throats, stomach sickness… "Oh, no…"

"That's only if it's been on you for a while and you didn't prepare properly. I'm assuming they didn't prepare any (you would have noticed, besides, it's unlike them), so how long has it been on?" Krystal inquired.

"Over an hour," Lily admitted.

"Well, there's a possibility that it won't-"

"I am going to kill him if…" Lily started, stopped short by a burning feeling on her head. "Oh, no…" she mumbled, looking down at her mirror. Her forehead was already almost as red as her hair.

"I thought you said that it wouldn't?" Avery queried.

"I said there was a chance," Krystal clarified. "Not a very big one, obviously, but-"

"Great," Lily mumbled. "Just great. Can I get rid of this?" She motioned to her scarlet forehead.

"Well, it says that aloe helps…" Krystal read, "but there are no magical remedies."

"Aloe?" Lily repeated.

"It's that stuff that you put on sunburns, right?" Avery double checked.

"Yes," Krystal affirmed.

"I've never heard of it," Lily remarked. "Let's hope Madam Pomfrey has some. Poor Severus… I hope his isn't bad, too…"

"They got Snape, too?" Krystal inquired.

"Yep," Avery replied. "I think they put something like 'I am a sneaky, slimy snake' on his head."

"How do you know?" Krystal inquired. "You've been here with me."

Avery frowned. "I heard James say it," she lied. Both Lily and Krystal bought it and left the subject. Avery sighed in relief. That was a close call.

* * *

Avery, Krystal, James, and Sirius skipped out of the school and into the frosty December air. It was Christmas Break! Krystal was belting off Christmas songs with James and Sirius, joyfully oblivious to their surroundings. Avery laughed when Sirius hit sour notes, and teased James that he still sounded like a dying whale. Remus followed behind much more quietly, watching his friends goof off. He was glad to have friends like them. They cared, unlike so many people he had known before. He hoped that they never figured out his problem… Peter trailed behind, watching them as well. He, however, wasn't as enthused as Remus. There they were, forgetting him _again…_ He guessed he wasn't loud or bold enough. If he just had more courage...

* * *

Ember watched from a castle window as the students poured out of the school. She saw Krystal and Avery leaving the school, laughing the whole time. "At least they're happy…" she muttered.

The book, lying open on the window sill, responded with, _"Yes, they are."_

Ember sighed, shaking her head. Most everyone in the school was going to clear out for the winter. She, however, had nowhere to go, really. Penny had seemed guilty about leaving Ember all by herself, but her parents strongly wished for her to return home for the holidays.

"Are you _sure_ you'll be fine?" Penny inquired as she tied a red and green ribbon in her hair (Ember's present to her).

"I'll be fine…" Ember had insisted. "Besides, your parents will want to see you. You're the baby of your family. You'll crush their hearts if you don't go see them."

Penny sighed. "All right…" she conceded, finalizing the bow. It went nicely with her long, glossy blonde hair and friendly brown eyes. "Promise you'll be fine?"

"I promise…" Ember laughed. "Just go."

Penny smiled gratefully and grabbed her trunk. "Merry Christmas!" she called as she left.

Hence, Ember was alone for all of vacation, or so she thought. As she watched the people streaming away toward their homes, a girl quietly entered the room.

"Hi," she declared.

Ember turned around to face her. Ember recognized her as a Slytherin first year and metamorphmagus that went by Tobi, but that wasn't her real name. Ember couldn't remember her real name at the time. She _did_ remember that when she had heard it, she hadn't blame the girl for going by a nickname. At the moment, Tobi had shoulder length blond hair with dark brown lowlights, shaggy bangs, and hazel eyes, but was prone to change her look every once in a while.

"Hello," Ember responded.

"I'm Tobi," the girl introduced. "Nice book you've got there."

Ember glanced down at the book, which quickly scrawled, _"She always thought she was funny."_

"Thanks," Ember awkwardly responded, trying to ignore it. "I'm-"

"Catherine," Tobi interrupted. "I know. You're the girl that keeps the rest of the class from having to answer any questions."

Ember smiled. "It's my goal in life," she teased.

"Keep up the good work," Tobi replied. "Astronomy isn't my strong suit on Fridays at midnight."

"I'll try," Ember answered.

Tobi looked down at the book, still open in front of Ember. "Tell him I said, 'hi'."

"Tell who?" Ember inquired.

"The book," Tobi explained matter-of-factly, as if it was obvious.

"Um…" Ember mumbled.

The book wrote a response, surprising Ember. _"I can still hear you, you know."_

Ember raised her eyebrows, surprised. "You two are… acquainted?"

Tobi laughed, shaking her head. "Maybe or maybe not…" she playfully answered. "No, really, we're not. I've just seen books like it. They _always_ have _such_ an attitude."

"That's for sure," Ember agreed. "So, you're staying, too?"

"Yep," she answered. After a pause, she queried, "Are you American, by chance?"

"I _was_ American," Ember truthfully stated. "I'm not so much anymore. Why?"

"Oh, I just heard you're accent. Or lack of one, I guess, in your perspective," Tobi explained. "I have an American aunt that I stay with over the summer. It gave me a nice American accent." She dropped her British accent for the last sentence and giggled at the end of it. She resumed in her normal voice. "Now, the people in America don't believe me that I'm British so I have to prove it to them. What brings you to the land of dreary weather?"

"I don't know," Ember replied with a shrug. "I woke up one day in an alley in London and couldn't remember anything past my name."

Tobi frowned. "Oh, that's terrible!" she cried. "You could stay with me. I'm sure my parents would mind you being around for a few summers."

_"Not a good idea…"_ the book warned, the remark staying only long enough for Ember to catch a glance of it.

"Did it just say something?" Tobi demanded, glaring at it.

"It said that you were very nice and I should consider the offer," Ember lied, shutting the book.

"It did?" Tobi inquired, genuinely surprised. "Maybe it's not as grumpy as I thought. I'm going to go die of boredom. All of my friends abandoned me for the holidays. See you around."

* * *

Later that day, Ember opened the book up in her empty room. She was the only Ravenclaw first year that stayed over vacation, so the room was all to herself.

_"Liar…" _the book wrote.

"I was pretending to be polite," Ember countered. "Besides, so far, I've lied more than I've told the truth. You shouldn't be surprised. I'm sorry she saw you, though. That was kind of reckless of me."

_"I do not blame you for that. Tobi has ways of her own of getting into trouble."_

"You know her." It wasn't a question.

_"Yes. I know all of my characters."_

"You said, and I quote: 'I can _still_ hear you'. You wouldn't have used 'still' if she hadn't pretended that you couldn't hear her before, so you've at least met once," Ember pointed out, ignoring its defense.

_"You are too observant for your own good."_

"She also called you a 'he', which suggests that she is more attached to you than if she had called you an 'it'."

_"She might assume that just because I talk means that I must have a gender."_

"Do you?" Ember inquired.

_"No. I'm a book, not a human. I do not have the reproductive-"_

"Okay! I've got it. I would have just accepted 'no'," Ember groaned.

_"I was being thorough. You tend to be tedious, so I thought you would prefer-"_

"-not to have the Health talk," Ember finished. "Do you have a name?"

_"I have an infinite amount of titles, sagas, trilogies, series..."_

"And…?"

_"-but I have no name. Again, that is a human concept."_

"What do you mean 'again'? Animals are masculine and feminine. Actually, plants are, too."

_"I was referring to the fact that the lion does not care if the gazelle it is devouring is a 'she' or not."_

"I'm not going to devour you…" Ember joked. "If anything, it's actually more like you devoured me, coming from your explanations."

_"Are you trying to be difficult?"_

"I'm not trying. It comes naturally," Ember answered.

_"As do the best of insults."_

"True, true…" Ember agreed, turning reminiscent for a moment. "I guess I'm stuck calling you 'the book', then."

_"My previous owners have given me many names over the years. I do not mind if you do the same."_

"Could you tell me some?"

_"Richard, Charles, Edward, William, Benjamin, and Robert, among others."_

"Hello, 'Rick Charley Ed Will Ben Bob'."

_"Wonderful. You are acting like you are ten."_

"No, I'm acting like I'm _eleven_, because that's the age you decided to make me," Ember retorted. After a pause, she probed, "What do _you_ want me to call you?"

The book was still for a long time. Finally, it responded, _"No one has ever asked me that before. I will have to think about it."_

Ember sighed. "Alright. Tell me when you come up with something." With that, she put the book up and went to sleep.

**AN**

**Name change! Sorry to any previous readers that are now bewildered. The old title was just so... (insert favorite negative adjective here). Of course, it's still not the best name, but Lady Loophole liked the assonance/alliteration thing so she made me keep it. This is still an upgrade.**

**Avery: I like it.**

**Maybe because you're based off of her?**

**Avery: That _might_ be it. Maybe...**

**As you can see from my reviews, LookAtMyTopHat requested to join my lovely trio of characters. Hence, Tobi is born! We shall be seeing much more of her, later...**

**Tobi: Of course! I'm super *** awesome! Wait? What is this? Are you censoring my pure awesomeness?!**

**Sorry... No cussing allowed. There might possibly be children somewhere out there reading this.**

**Tobi: You're no fun.**

**Avery: Agreed. :)**

**Whatever you say. :P**

**Please review! I have 832 views at the time I posted this, but only 26 reviews. Now, this may seem like a decent feat until you figure in the fact that 21 of those are from the _same two people_. Slightly less epic, I must say. So, please, please, please review.**

**Tobi: My evil clone posted once. Sure, it was to complain, but it should still count for something.**

**Avery: Most of those 26 post were from _my_ clone, and we're both awesome.**

**Whatever. ;)**

**Now, even though it's probably starting to bore you:**

**Avery: Starting?! I was bored after the second one.**

**Tobi: This is my first one and I'm _already_ bored of it.**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I wouldn't have to beg for reviews. ;)**


	14. Chapter 14: Tobi's Glittery Christmas

Tobi raced down the hall, blasting anything she could see with red and green sparkles. It was early morning on Christmas Day, and she need to work some of her energy out. So, she decided to vandalize the halls of Hogwarts with glitter. The spell wasn't very complicated. All the frilly Hufflepuff girls used it sometimes on birthdays and holidays and such to make their hair look sparkly. She had quickly picked it up from them. All Tobi needed to do was rig it a bit, and _wham_, Christmas magic.

She darted around a corner, spewing sparkles left and right. She was almost finished with her rounds... Peeves stopped in his tracks and grinned. "I wonder what Apollyon Pringle would say to this…" he taunted.

"Oh, shut it," Tobi snapped. She flicked her wand at him and laughed as he was subsequently coated in glitter. "We both know that's an empty threat. It would ruin the fun of watching him wake up and see the disaster."

"Maybe I'll tell him who did it after he finds out," Peeves menacingly suggested. Apparently, he did not like being glittered by a first year…

"Then he'll think you did it," she pointed out. Peeves stopped to think about that comment. While he did, Tobi filled a sack full of the sparkly stuff and tossed it to him. "There," she declared. "Now you can take credit for it. Dump it on Professor McGonagall or something."

Peeves decided that it rectified the situation and flew off, humming his own modified lyrics to Christmas songs.

As she finished her round of the school, she ran into Catherine in the hallway. "Um…" Tobi mumbled, ending the spell and hiding her wand behind her back.

"You're the one that got Peeves?" Catherine inquired.

"Uh… yeah... um…" she stuttered.

"Don't worry," Catherine stated. "I'm not telling anyone. Although, I'd like to see that spell…"

Tobi raised her eyebrows in surprise. Maybe Catherine wasn't such a deadbeat after all.

* * *

Avery jumped out of bed, exhilarated to say the least. It was Christmas! On behalf of Avery's acceptance into Gryffindor, her room had been painted a dark crimson with metallic gold trim and curtains. It was kind of gaudy, but Avery didn't mind. It looked very Christmas-y when the room also added some dark green garland with red and gold bells jingle bells.

She threw open the curtains and looked outside at the 'winter wonderland'. For a change, it wasn't rain. Instead, it was sleeting. Avery shrugged nonchalantly to herself. It was close enough.

She let a very unhappy Ciara in and quickly shut the window. It was cold and wet enough outside for the both of them.

Then, she raced down the hall and burst into Krystal's dark room. "IT'S CHRISTMAS!" Avery bellowed.

Krystal sat up in her bed. "Is it also before sunrise?" Krystal mumbled, getting accustomed to being woken up much too early for her previous tastes.

"Nope!" Avery proudly answered, grinning suspiciously. "I tried _really_ hard to wait just for you."

"What time is it?"

"It's six forty-five," Avery stated. Krystal groaned. "The sun rose fifteen minutes ago."

"Oh…" Krystal moaned, flopping back down onto her bed. "Wake me up at… I take that back. Don't wake me up."

"But it's Christmas!" Avery protested. Krystal groaned again. She changed tactics. "It's snowing…" she tried, receiving no response. Third time's a charm? "I have chocolate…"

"Chocolate?!" Krystal chirped, leaping back up. "Where?!"

"I'll only give it to you if you get up now."

"Alright…" Krystal muttered. "But you had better not be making this up."

"I'm not," Avery assured. She raced back to her room and returned with a box of truffles.

Upon sight confirming the chocolates' existence, Krystal turned on the light and opened the curtains. Krystal's room was also Gryffindor colors, but like last time, much less flashy. Unlike Avery's room, however, her room was coated from floor to ceiling with Christmas decorations. She even had a small fireplace added for the occasion. In the corner of her room was a medium sized Christmas tree, coated in a jumble of lights, garland, candy canes, ornaments, glitter, ribbons, popcorn strings, tinsel, and small magical candles. Avery was surprised the tree could hold it all, even with magical assistance. At the top of the suffocated tree, an angel with long golden ringlets perched majestically on the top with its delicate ivory wings unfurled around it. It glowed softly, casting a gentle, golden light around it.

"Oo, pretty angel," Avery commented.

"Yeah… I had one like it at home," Krystal informed. "Oh, I miss the boys so much…"

"I thought you said your brothers annoyed you?" Avery curiously inquired.

"They do… well, did. I didn't think I would miss them, but I can't help missing their adorable, sweet, irritating little faces…" Krystal broke off reminiscently.

Avery laughed. "I miss my brother a bit, too. He's in college, though, so I'm more used to it," she explained. "He was pretty nice compared to most big brothers."

"The way Ember used to rant about her siblings, you'd think they were the devil's children," Krystal teased.

"She told me that one of them _ate_ her library book once," Avery slowly answered.

"So I've heard..."

"She told you that story, too?" Avery queried.

"Yep," Krystal replied. "It's one of her favorites, I guess." Avery pictured a little blond boy biting a chunk of a book out. Then, she edited the scene so that _she_ was munching on the book, a much more believable picture. "It's very interesting to say the least," Krystal continued after a moment, popping a chocolate into her mouth. "Let's go find our presents!"

The two raced down the stairs into the large parlor room. A ten foot tall tree regally stood in the corner of the room, its dark green foliage gently lit by the string of colored lights. The colorful light bounced of the red and gold tinsel, sending sparkles around the otherwise dark room. The embers of a once hearty fire glowed in the large brick fireplace, making the room feel even homier. Three stockings plus one smaller one (Twinkle's; Krystal has been insistent about it even after Avery had pointed out that she couldn't touch it) jollily hung over it. To Krystal's horror, however, there were no presents in sight.

"You two are certainly up early," Mr. Jones remarked, entering the room.

"It's terrible! Santa missed us!" Krystal cried in alarm.

"Santa…?" Mr. Jones echoed.

"It's an American thing," Avery explained. "He's a made up guy-"

"He is NOT an 'American thing' and he's NOT made up!" Krystal bellowed in outrage. "He's real! He gives presents to all the boys and girls in the world and-"

"Santa Claus is made up! He hasn't even _heard_ of him!" Avery countered. "Why don't you grow up already?! He's _not _real. Get over it."

"But-" Krystal stammered, to furious to talk.

"Santa isn't real. He's just an imaginary person that people made up so that they could bribe their kids into acting nice. I mean, they stole Christmas from the Christians and made up some other story so that it wasn't just a Christian holiday anymore. Just like they did with Halloween," Avery stated. "Nobody really even knows that Halloween is really 'All Hallows Eve', the day before All Saints Day. Christmas is pretty much just like that."

"No-" Krystal interjected, quickly cut off by Avery again.

"I mean, even if he was real, wouldn't he be dead by now? And all his reindeer would be gay, because in real life, girl reindeer have horns and boys don't. And polar bears don't live on the same _hemisphere_ even as penguins. And why would you need to go Christmas shopping if he was real? And where would he get the money to buy all his stuff from? And it would be impossible for his sleigh to fly like they explain it. It would just tip over and all the stuff would fall out."

Avery would have continued, but Krystal had finally found her voice. "SANTA CLAUS IS REAL! JUST BECAUSE YOU DON'T BELIEVE, DOESN'T MAKE HIM IMAGINARY! SANTA _IS_ REAL, AND I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK! ALL YOU WANT TO DO IS RUIN THE CHRISTMAS SPIRIT AND ALL IT STANDS FOR! WHY DON'T _YOU_ GROW UP?!" Krystal stormed out of the room. "I HOPE YOU HAVE A _NICE_ CHRISTMAS!"

Avery shuddered. "Well, _you're_ moody today…"

"Avery!" Mr. Jones rebuked.

"Well, he's _not_ real…" she answered.

"That's not the point," Mr. Jones chastised. "The point _is_ the fact that you yelled at her for no reason and implied that she was stupid for believing something. I don't care if you were 'correct'; it's still a horrible thing to say, especially to a sister." He sighed. Avery was very tempted to say something she would later regret, but refrained. She had a very bad habit of talking back at home.

"You should go apologize to her at once," he commanded.

"Alright…" Avery groaned.

She scuffled up the stairs. She was sorry that she had made Krystal so upset, but she wasn't going to recant what she had stated. It _was_ the truth. Krystal was _fifteen_ and still believed in Santa. It was pretty sad to say the least.

* * *

Krystal laid on her bed, tears slowly running down her face. Santa _was_ real… He _had_ to be. Avery was a just an unbelieving meanie…

Krystal had comebacks for each of the things Avery listed, anyway. She listed them in her head in order:

1. Santa Claus could have had made the elixir of immortality so he wouldn't have died.

2. About the genders… well, Krystal had a hard time explaining that. Maybe the reindeer were just weird hybrids or something. No matter what, they weren't gay. They were just gender confused…

3. As for the polar bears and penguins, Santa Claus could have adopted them from wherever they had lived before.

4. People went Christmas shopping for fun and to show how much they love their family and such.

5. Santa was _magical…_ Why would he need money in the first place? He magically made stuff. He didn't _buy_ it.

6. The last attack had a similar answer: if the sleigh was _magical _(which it was; how else would he fit all the presents on it?), it would fly no matter what.

Krystal wasn't really angry at Avery, more of hurt or even… disappointed, maybe. Avery hadn't meant to be harsh… She just had a strong personality and got a little carried away sometimes… She meant well… maybe.

As Krystal moped on her bed, Scarlet tried to comfort her to no avail. After a few minutes, Scarlet gave up. The little owlet dolefully looked up with huge, dark eyes. The sight was so desolate that it almost broke Krystal's heart. "Oh, Scarlet…" Krystal whispered. "Don't look so sad… It's alright…" The owl peeped softly, a slightly more hopeful look on its face. "You're right… I shouldn't spend Christmas moping around like this. Today is for celebrating and chocolate and singing and love and chocolate…" Scarlet happily fluttered her wings.

With that, Krystal joyfully broke into 'What Child is This' (which would have made an angel break down in cry in joy and admiration), 'Santa Clause is Coming to Town' (in English the first time and Japanese the second go round), and 'Dashing Through the Snow' (her own rendition, of course. It was from a story she had been writing once).

"Dashing through the snow, trying not to be killed!

Running from evil creatures! Laughing all the way!"

She stopped short. The first time she had sang that song, Ember sarcastically added, "Ha, ha ha." Krystal had liked it so much that she had kept it. Without Ember, the song had lost some of its meaning.

She sighed and switched to a much happier and upbeat song:

_"Hark, how the bells,_

S_weet silver bells, _

_All seem to say _

_'Throw cares away'!__"_

* * *

Avery stood outside of Krystal's door, uneasy. She didn't know how well Krystal would respond… Finally, she mustered a little courage and knocked.

"Yes?" Krystal inquired.

Avery opened the door a crack and peeked into the room. "It's me, Avery," she quietly announced.

"Thank you, Captain Obvious," Krystal teased. "I thought you were _James _or something."

Avery was slightly taken aback, but continued anyway. "I wanted to say that I was sorry."

"Apology accepted," Krystal flippantly declared.

"What?" Avery queried, more than a little confused.

"We all have rights to our own opinions," Krystal answered with a shrug. "We don't exactly agree on something, but that doesn't mean we have to fight about it."

Avery was surprised for a second before shrugging. Krystal was even more easy-going than she had thought. Which was totally fine with her. She hated trying to deal with someone who was crying, especially because of her…

"We're about to open presents," Avery informed.

"Okay," Krystal answered, hopping off her bed. "Night, Scarlet!" she called as she darted out of the room.

"Shouldn't you say 'Good morning!'?" Avery inquired.

"It's darker in my room during the day than at night," Krystal pointed out. "So in my room, it is night… ish."

"Why?" Avery probed.

"Oh, I have this really cool light that flashes colors," Krystal explained. "I turn it on at night and it lights up the whole room. It changes colors based on my mood. Most of the time it's red and pink, though."

"So, you're always angry when you go to sleep?"

"No…" Krystal disagreed. "Pink and red are happy colors for me. Everybody's different, though."

"My happy color would probably be a turquoise," Avery declared. "Or this bright lime green. Or a hot really pink, maybe…"

Krystal giggled. "Maybe you should just get one and find out for yourself."

"Maybe…" Avery answered. Krystal laughed even harder as the entered the pallor again.

"Ready?" Mr. Jones inquired.

"As I'll ever be," Avery answered with a smirk.

"Yep!" Krystal enthusiastically responded.

Suddenly, two presents materialized under the tree. "Whoa…" Avery muttered in approval.

Krystal scrambled over to a large, red wrapped box. On the label, it read, "To: Krystal, From: Santa Claus."

Krystal pointed to it. Avery groaned and shrugged. She would just let her keeping believing what she wanted…

Avery gravitated towards the bright, color box of the two. It read, "To: Avery, From: Mr. Jones."

"Look at that…" Avery smirked. "No Santa."

This time, Krystal shrugged. "Only believers get presents," she explained. She opened hers first. Inside the box was a new, shiny gold cage with Scarlet engraved in the bottom in curly red letters. "It's beautiful!" Krystal exclaimed.

"Well, little Scarlet isn't as little as she used to be," Mr. Jones remarked. "She would have needed a new cage, soon. Is there anything else in the box?"

Krystal pulled out a neon red shirt with a stately, posing griffin stitched in golden thread on the pocket. Underneath the beautiful creature was carefully stitched the word '**GRYFFINDOR**' in bold, commanding letters. "Oh, it's perfect!" Krystal declared, holding it up.

"My turn!" Avery torn through the paper and hastily discarded the lid. Her present was a much larger silver owl cage with Ciara's name elegantly engraved along the bottom in gold. Even though Scarlet was pretty much full grown, she was still only around a foot tall. Ciara stood at a full, sleek height of two feet. "It's pretty," Avery admitted, admiring it from all sides. "Much better than the ones that came free from the store for sure." She then revealed her second gift: a bold red shirt like Krystal's. On hers, however, the griffin was in a different position, looking more fierce than majestic. As a whole, it looked very striking. "Thank you," Avery gratefully replied. "I like it."

"I hoped you would," Mr. Jones answered.

"Look!" Krystal burst, pointing. The stockings were no longer empty. She raced over to hers and dumped the contents onto the floor. She poked at her mound of assorted chocolates and a tiny, bright pink journal. Avery also received various candies and a small, neon lime green notebook.

"I heard that notebooks were an American thing," Mr. Jones explained, "so I thought you would like them. Kind of like diaries, I suppose. I wouldn't really know; I'm fine with my scrolls. Anyway, I went out and found the most colorful ones in all of London for you."

Thanks!" Krystal chirped, running over and hugging him. "I _love_ it! Pink is my _favorite_ color, you know!"

"I think he does," Avery teased. "Either that or he's a very lucky guesser."

Mr. Jones just smiled and shook his head.

Krystal finally lessened her embrace as Twinkle entered the room. "Twinkle!" she exclaimed. "Open your present!"

"Twinkle has presents?" Twinkle inquired, surprised. House elves didn't normally get presents. Then again, Mistress Avery and Mistress Krystal weren't exactly 'normal' wizarding children, but Twinkle _loved_ Mistress Avery and Mistress Krystal even more for it.

"Yes!" Krystal answered. "And Mr. Jones, too!"

"I do?" Mr. Jones probed. Krystal eagerly nodded, and Avery kind of shrugged.

Krystal disappeared from the room and quickly returned, carrying two boxes. She handed him his box first. He smiled warmly and opened it, unsure of what it could possibly be. Inside the box was a sharp black bowler hat. He picked it up, still a bit unsure.

"You see," Avery enlightened, "We didn't know what to get you, and we saw this hat. It looks all fancy like rich people wear with their rich, fancy suits, so I kind of thought it fit you. Krystal really liked it so we spent the leftovers off our chocolate money on it."

"You forgot the best part!" Krystal chided. "Since it rains all the time here, I charmed it so that it repeals the water! Someone could dump a whole bathtub of water on your head and you'd still be dry! You won't need to carry an umbrella ever!"

Mr. Jones smiled, turning the little hat over in his hands. Inside on the tag, they had written: _"Love, Krystal and Avery, 1971"._ He tried on the bowler and laughed at Krystal's delighted expression.

"It looks great on you!" she cheerfully announced. "Do you like it? Do you like it?"

"It's wonderful," he declared, keeping it perched on his head.

"Yay!" Krystal cheered.

Avery giggled. "Looks like somebody had too much chocolate," she teased.

"You can _NEVER_ have too much chocolate!" Krystal contradicted.

"Are you sure?" Avery goaded.

"One thousand percent positive," Krystal declared. Avery rolled her eyes. "Twinkle's turn!"

Twinkle watched in surprise as she handed her a small box. She gentle opened the lid and looked inside. A tiny gold locket gleamed up at her.

"Is this for Twinkle?" Twinkle muttered in awe. She touched it gently.

"It was on a doll in store," Krystal replied, "and we thought it would fit you well."

"Locket too pretty for Twinkle. Twinkle can't take locket," Twinkle insisted.

"We thought it would be okay…" Avery responded. "It's technically not clothes, right?"

"Locket is not clothes," Twinkle assured. "But locket is too fancy for Twinkle."

"Come on…" Krystal begged. "You do so much for us… Today is a day that we say thank you for the little stuff."

"Like cleaning up after us," Avery added. "And cooking those really good meals…"

"Please?" Krystal pleaded.

Twinkle looked up at them. "Twinkle will take locket to make Mistress Avery and Mistress Krystal happy."

"Yay!" Krystal exclaimed, hugging Twinkle. Twinkle smiled and hugged her back. When Krystal put her down, she gingerly removed the golden locket. It was just the right size for her, and caught the light nicely. She undid the clasp and tried it on.

"Twinkle likes locket very much," Twinkle declared. "Twinkle wants to say, 'Thank you.'"

"Let's get a picture of everyone," Mr. Jones suggested. "I don't have any pictures of you two yet, really."

"Other than the one with Avery hanging upside like a lunatic," Krystal reminded.

"Yes," he replied. "Other than that one, I don't have any."

The two girls stood together next to the glowing Christmas tree. In their special Christmas dresses, they looked as pretty as ornaments themselves. Krystal's velvet dress was a bright scarlet with a golden silk ribbon around her waist. Avery's dress had a black top, a gold ribbon, and a dark emerald skirt.

Krystal and Avery smiled as Mr. Jones took their picture. "Can we get a picture with Twinkle?" Krystal inquired. Moments later, Twinkle scurried over and the girls sat to get a picture with her as well. Then, Twinkle took the camera and got a picture of him and the girls together.

Krystal sighed. "Now can we eat our chocolate?" she hopefully queried.

"Yes," Mr. Jones answered. "Now you may eat your chocolate."

* * *

Ember quietly walked through the hall before dinner, with her bag on her back. Outside was the world was coated in a few feet of snow. She had a wonderful view of everything from both her common room and the owlery, where she had spent most of the day. She liked it up there. The walls of the tower were mostly just empty openings, so she had a panoramic view of the grounds. She liked the owls, too. She knew what breeds they were and most of the school owls' names. The owls tended to like her, as well.

Ember hurried through the halls. She had just enough time to slip this into their room before she was late for dinner…

As she turned around the corner to the Gryffindor's common room, she ran into Tobi.

"Aren't you a Ravenclaw?" Tobi suspiciously inquired.

"Aren't you a Slytherin?" Ember retorted.

"Point taken," Tobi good naturedly answered. "Their password is 'bumbling boggarts'."

Ember raised her eyebrows. "I _won't_ ask..." After a pause, she queried, "Is it empty?"

"Everybody's gone," Toby assured. "Can I ask what a goodie-two-shoes teachers' pet wants to do breaking into other people's common rooms?"

Ember snorted and pulled two presents out of her bag. "Christmas espionage."

"Oh," Tobi sighed, losing interest. "Well, see you around."

"You, too," Ember replied, approaching the fat lady. "Bumbling boggarts…"

The Fat Lady narrowed her eyes. "Do I know you?"

"I'm a first year and I'm kind of shy," Ember replied. "You see, I'm a muggle born, so talking paintings kind of freaked me out for the first few months." She paused. "Anyway, I forgot something, and I'm late for dinner… I really don't want Pringle to get me…"

"Alright, alright," the fat lady suspiciously grumbled. "Hurry up."

"Thanks!" Ember replied as she darted into the common room. She liked hers better, personally… She didn't stop to take the room in, however, not even to admire Tobi's handiwork. She darted up the stairs and into the first years' dormitories. She gently placed her two presents on top of their beds and raced down the stairs and back out the tunnel.

"Got it!" Ember mumbled, out of breath. "Do you think I'll make it in time?"

"You better run," the fat lady hazarded. With that, Ember took off, heading for the Great Hall. She might have smiled at her success, but a growing sadness filled her.

They _still_ didn't recognize her. After all the hints she'd left… Maybe this one would be enough.

She didn't really mean those words. They were having the times of their lives… _without her_. They would probably never notice her living in the shadows… Maybe it was better that way.

"A _very_ merry Christmas to me," she thought bitterly. She didn't mean it, though. Christmas wasn't about her. It wasn't about presents, toys, glitter, trees, lights, chocolate, or any of that. People there just missed the point, turning into something that it wasn't supposed to be. It was supposed to be a _Christian_ holiday celebrating the birth of their Savior. It's even in the name: _'Christ'_ mas. Yet somehow even Christians lose sight of the purpose, though. It always annoyed her, but she never said anything. No one would care. No one wants to hear that they have something all wrong. _  
_

Just another reason she didn't belong there.

As she rushed to dinner, she began to quietly sing to herself. _"Joy to the world! The Lord is come…"_

**AN**

**Yay! Another chapter knocked out! How are you liking my 'Christmas in August' thing?**

**Avery: It's August? I thought it was December?**

**It's August in the real world at the time I'm posting this.**

**Avery: This world seems real enough to me.**

**You're in a story in a story. How does that seem real?**

**Avery: Point taken...**

**Krystal: Again, reality is a figment of your imagination.**

**So are you.**

**Avery: Burn!**

**You are, too. **

**Avery: Double burn! Wait a second...**

**:) Anyway, Tobi glitters Peeves, Krystal believes in Santa Clause, Avery likes bowler hats-**

**Avery: Do not! Krystal picked it!**

**-and Ember has some very strong opinions about the holidays... Interesting chapter, if I say so myself.**

**Avery: I'll say. Ember is a real downer. She's even depressing _herself._**

**She isn't depressed. Just very cynical.**

**Krystal: She seems _so_ unhappy all of the time...**

**Just because she sees things in a half empty glass kind of way, doesn't actually mean she's unhappy. **

**Krystal: I'm more of a 'the glass is half full' kind of person.**

**Avery: I'm more of a 'who drank half of my drink?!' kind of person, myself. ;)**

**Okay... *backs away from Avery, who rolls her eyes***

**Oh, and thanks to all my viewers. I almost have 1000 views! :D Now, if I could just get some of those 1000 people to start reviewing... ;) Oh, well. That's asking to much, I suppose. **

**Now, even though I've posted this 12 other times:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, people would beg to get reviews from me, not the other way around. ;)**


	15. Chapter 15: Daisies and Dimensions

Krystal looked up. "You got me a present?" she inquired.

Avery shot her a funny look. "No," she answered. "Why?" Krystal held up a hand wrapped present. Avery scanned her bed and picked up an identical one. "Shall we open it?"

"Might be from James," Krystal pointed out.

"Oh, well," Avery sighed. "I will be brave…" She tore through the gift wrap. A shiny black feather and a slip of paper fell onto the bed. "Cool quill," she stated, riffling for her new journal to test it out.

Krystal opened package as well. Inside was a tawny owl quill. She was sure of it. She dipped it into her pot of ink and tried it out.

"Wow," she sighed as the quill wrote in _red._

"Cool!" Avery exclaimed, doodling on a spare page. The ink looped from turquoise, blue, indigo, and a dark violet color before going back down the scale again. She looked from her pot of _black_ ink to her quill in wonder. "Do you think it's enchanted?"

"It would _have_ to be," Krystal asserted. She picked up the wrappings and was about to throw them away when she noticed something. Amongst the small pile of paper was a note. Upon reading it, she gasped.

"What?" Avery demanded.

Krystal held up the scrap.

In tight, elegant cursive, it read, _"Merry Christmas! From: Ember."_

Avery widened her eyes. "She's here…"

* * *

Avery groaned as her potion began to give off a foul smell. "Ick…" she mumbled. A large bubble erupted, splattering a gooey, guacamole like substance all over the surrounding area.

"Ew…" Lily sighed, casting a quick spell to remove the goop off of her sleeve.

"Three more minutes," Professor Slughorn announced.

Avery moaned again and stared at her putrid concoction. Then, she glanced at Lily's perfect (as always) potion. "Do you think it needs more mistletoe…?"

Krystal examined her potion and staggered backwards, gagging. "I think you'll need more than that…" she giggled. "Maybe… a miracle?" Sirius, sitting behind the two girls, snickered.

Lily, on Avery's left, gave in. "Oh, let me fix it," she instructed. Avery smiled as Lily hastily remedied the doomed potion with a minute to spare.

"Thank you, Princess of Potions," Avery teased.

"Whatever," Lily answered. "You _really_ need to study, you know."

"I _did_!" Avery replied. "I think I'm improving, actually."

Sirius snickered again. "Hey, Daisy, can you fix mine, too?" he smirked. His potion was better than Avery's, at least…

"First of all: my name is _Lily_, not _Daisy_," Lily snapped. "Second of all: I make it a point not to help gits."

"So, you won't help James?" Sirius bantered, prodding James with his elbow.

James glowered over his bubbling cauldron. "Speak for yourself."

Remus rolled his eyes. "If you two shut up, maybe she would help you," he pointed out.

"Maybe _you_ should help us," James retorted.

"You should learn how to do this on your own. You're just jealous that a girl just kicked your butt. Besides, it's _way_ too late, now," Remus declared.

As if to emphasize the point, Professor Slughorn announced, "And times up! Let us see what we have here." Sirius comically groaned and James shot daggers at Remus, who shrugged nonchalantly.

"Well done!" Professor Slughorn praised as he scrutinized Severus' potion. Severus sneered in their direction.

Professor Slughorn worked his way over to the Gryffindors. "Wonderful!" he exclaimed when he saw Lily's potion. "You have a lot of promise."

He looked at Avery's. "Not too bad… Next time, do it yourself, though." He winked at her.

"Good…" he remarked on both Krystal's and Remus' cauldrons. He took one glace at James' and Sirius' pots and frowned. "I think _someone_ needs to do their homework."

Peter uneasily displayed his potion. "Almost there," Professor Slughorn commented.

Peter frowned. Potions weren't his strong suit. He preferred Charms and Herbology _much_ more. They were both with the Hufflepuffs, which were nicer as a whole. Hufflepuffs were friendly and loyal. Ravenclaws tended to be a little stuck up and smart alecks. Slytherins were self-centered and pompous… which was why Peter hated Potions so much. It was Slytherin through and through. Slytherin dungeon, Slytherin Head of House, Slytherin students, Slytherin spells…

The students quickly filed out of the dungeon. It was Monday, so next the Gryffindors had Care of Magical creatures with the Ravenclaws. James and Sirius thundered outside, whooping and hexing the occasional student. Remus shook his head and wearily chased after them, muttering the occasional counter curse as he went. Peter scurried after the group.

This left Avery, Krystal, Lily together.

Lily snorted. "Those two boys are _gits_."

"Tell me about it," Avery replied.

"It's not Sirius' fault…" Krystal defended. "He isn't treated very well at home. His whole family consists of psychopathic anti-Muggle inbred pure bloods that hate his guts. I would be rebellious, too."

"That's no excuse to be a jerk," Avery insisted.

"He's not a jerk," Krystal countered.

"He wrote _'Slimy Snake Lover'_ on my head!" Lily snapped. "That pretty much constitutes as being a jerk."

"How do you know James didn't do it?" Krystal retorted.

"They both did, actually," Avery quietly imputed.

"Well, I said they were _both_ gits, didn't I?"

"Sirius _isn't_ a git," Krystal mumbled. Luckily, the comment was quickly overlooked as Mary MacDonald joined the group. Mary was, a first year Gryffindor, was friends with Lily and Avery, and quickly and effectively distracted them from the conversation.

While the others chatted, Krystal's mind began to wander. She couldn't figure out where Ember could possibly be. Ember hadn't been there during the sorting. She was certain of it; she had been looking for Ember the whole time with hopes that she would turn up. Actually, the only other American in the school at the time was Catherine, the Ravenclaw…

Krystal had many theories about how Avery and she had gotten there, how their ages had changed, and why they were suddenly magical… As a whole, they were all very good, well thought out theories, which was why Avery refused to listen to them after a while. As she mused over all her given information, she came up with this hypothesis:

The book was actually a portal to another dimension, which the two girls had accidently activated. In this dimension, time went at a slower rate than at home, so eleven years at the Marauder's dimension equaled around sixteen in her home dimension, which explained the age change. As for the magic, maybe they had the ability for magical the whole time, but the magic could only be activated in certain dimensions, such as the one they were residing in. In her home dimension, magic would be impractical, although she _would_ have had fun hexing her brothers… She was digressing. Ember, intelligent as she was, must have realized what the book was and sent them the presents and the note through it. Like the girls, when the presents went through the portal, their properties were warped to fulfill the requirements of the dimension.

Hence, everything was explained in a logical manner. Well, really it was as logically as the entire illogical series of events could possibly be explained.

She wondered vaguely if Ember would be proud of her.

Krystal drifted back to the real world (well, she considered it to be her 'real world' until she got home… no, _if_ she ever got home… no, if she ever _wanted_ to go home).

She noticed Catherine, Penny, and another Ravenclaw girl talking. The same nagging recognition filled her mind most every time she saw Catherine, but she could never determine who Catherine reminded her of.

Avery grinned Professor Kettleburn led out a dazzling white unicorn mare. The unicorn had been orphaned as a foal and had been lovingly raised by the seventh year students all of last year. They had fondly named her Silvermane, a name which wholly fit the delicate creature.

Avery had always wanted to pet a unicorn. Off course, she would have preferred a rainbow glitter unicorn, but this was probably the closest she would ever get.

* * *

"JAMES!" Lily bellowed. "SIRIUS! YOU'RE IN _SO_ MUCH TROUBLE!"

"Oh, look at the time…" James teased, running out of the room.

"Yes, we're late for… something!" Sirius inarticulately responded with a devious grin. He chased after the retreating James.

Remus rolled his eyes and sighed. "Petrificus totalus." Instantly, the two boys froze.

Lily stomped into the room. "You two better leave Severus alone or else I'll-"

By that point, Remus had released the two troublemakers. "Or what?!" James retorted, nastily cutting her off. "You'll _kiss_ the slimy snake?!"

She sneered back at him. "He's a better person than you'll ever be!" she snapped.

"What does that make you, mate?" Sirius teased. "A worm, maybe?"

James pointedly ignored him. "He's just a another _slimy, slithering, backstabbing, cruel, nasty, venomous, dark, good-for-nothing Slytherin_."

Lily's glare could have melted steel with one glance. She was such a dark crimson color that her fiery hair appeared a mere strawberry blonde. James stared back, almost as lethally.

With impeccably _horribly_ timing, Sirius playfully added, "It's true, Rosie. I bet our dearest Snevellus has been using you all along."

With that, Lily burst with an almost unimaginable fury. "SEVERUS HAS MORE GUTS THAN YOU'LL EVER HAVE IN YOUR ENTIRE LIFE! HE'S SMART, FUNNY, NICE, AND EVERYTHING YOU'LL NEVER BE! HE WAS FRIENDS WITH ME EVEN BEFORE WE KNEW I WAS MAGICAL! HE'S STUCK WITH ME FOR YEARS, AND DIDN'T ABANDON ME JUST BECAUSE WE'RE IN DIFFERENT HOUSES! HE DOESN'T CARE IF I'M A MUGGLEBORN! IN FACT, HE'S THE BEST FRIEND I'VE _EVER_ HAD!" She stormed across the common room, robes flying around her. She abruptly halted on the stairs and whipped around. "AND MY NAME IS _LILY_!" She stomped up the stairs and into her dormitory.

"Good going, Potter," Avery scorned, running after Lily.

"Tsk, tsk," Sirius muttered. "That was a little uncalled for. It's not _my_ fault I can't remember her name."

Remus rolled his eyes. "I highly doubt that's what set her off," he responded.

Sirius shrugged indifferently. James still stood in the middle of the common room, fuming. Krystal and Peter stood in the corner of the room, unsure of what to do.

"Are you alright?" Peter timidly inquired.

_"Am I alright?"_ James sneered back, causing Peter to cower. "I would say 'no'. That _traitor_ has just gone against the very Gryffindor Code of Honor! She's as bad as the slimy Slytherins herself! She will pay for this. She _will_ pay…" He stormed out of the room with Sirius blissfully trailing behind him.

Peter slumped into the chair. Krystal caught the hurt look on his face. "Oh, he wasn't yelling at you," Krystal assured. "He's just mad at Lily and blowing off steam."

"Alright," Peter quietly mumbled. He got up and offered a halfhearted smile to her.

Remus watched the two of them from across the room. Remus didn't really know how Peter got into Gryffindor; Peter was afraid of his own shadow.

Krystal was intelligent and friendly… but not really brave. Well, he took that back. Krystal had watched their parents get killed in front of her and then got dropped in the middle of Diagon Alley. She wasn't horribly traumatized or anything as far as he could tell, so she would probably have to have a decent amount of courage, even if it didn't show.

Avery, her sister/cousin (the two girls still hadn't quite sorted it out yet), _did_ let her fearlessness show, however. Avery was _definitely_ a Gryffindor through and through.

* * *

"_Please…_" Sirius begged.

Avery put her hands on her hips. "No," she firmly answered.

"Why not?" Sirius whined.

"Because," she replied, taking another look at the paper, "I'm not good at potions… or cooking. This requires both."

"Well, me and James are guys…" Sirius groaned. "We're not supposed to know how to cook."

Avery sighed. "It would be 'James and I', not 'me and James'," she corrected.

"Does it matter?"

"_If_ you want me to keep talking to you..." After a pause, she continued, "But I can only think of four people that _could_ help you, and only one that _would_."

"Who?" Sirius queried.

"Severus, Lily, Krystal, and Remus," Avery revealed.

"Snevellus?!" Sirius exclaimed. "You think _Snevellus_ is going to help us prank the Slytherins?"

"I said that _could_, not _would_," Avery reminded. "Now, because you two gits have made it your life's goal to torment Lily and Severus, the best at potions in our grade, that only leaves Krystal and Remus. I doubt Krystal would help you, though. It kills her just to think about breaking the rules. That leaves Remus."

"Remus won't help us," Sirius chided. "He's as bad as Krystal, except maybe not as perky."

Avery giggled, trying to imagine a perky Remus. Once she stopped, she replied, "You should still ask him. I doubt he'll tell on you. And if he does, I'll get Krystal to find me the spell that makes you lose your memory or something."

"Can Remus cook?" Sirius inquired.

"I don't know," Avery admitted. "But he's good at Potions."

"Not as good as Lilac," Sirius groaned.

"Lily?"

"Yeah, her."

Avery shook her head in amazement. Well, at least he was getting closer... "That's what you get for harassing her," she pointed out.

"It's James that's fixated on her," Sirius argued.

"You don't help any," she retorted. "Actually, you tend to egg them on."

"I just find it highly amusing," he explained. "Those two are very funny together."

"They try to kill each other whenever they meet."

"That makes it even more funny."

"It's 'funnier'."

"Whatever."

**AN**

**Thank you to any of the loyal readers that managed to put up with me this far!**

**Avery: You're welcome.**

**I have over 1000 views and over 30 reviews. **

**Thank you to BakedApplez for pointing out some mistakes. I have fixed the Avery talking to herself one from last chapter (although she's been known to talk to herself out loud, she wasn't supposed to be that time...). I will make sure to get my quidditch in order from now on. I'm trying to make this follow cannon as well as I can, so if anybody catches anything I'm doing wrong, please call me on it. :)**

**Avery: Will do.**

***groans* Also, many thanks to Made-In-Denmark, Lady Loophole, and Akozu Heiwa for your comments and opinions.**

**Poor Lily... Sirius can't get her name right for the life of him. ;)**

**Avery: Ember hasn't left any hints other than that note. I still have no clue where she is.**

**Actually, she _did_ leave hints... You and Krystal never even noticed them. Because of this, they don't show up in the story. The readers already know who she is, so I thought that putting them in would be kind of redundant for them. **

**Avery: Oh... Can you give me a hint?**

**Did I just say that you already had hints?**

**Avery: :P**

**Sirius, James, and Avery are plotting against the Slytherins... and probably dragging Remus in, too. Have any idea what their prank will be?**

**Ready for our _favorite_ part of the story?**

**Avery: Do you _have _to do it every time?**

**No.**

**Avery: Phew...**

**But I will. }:)**

**Avery: Noooooooooooo!**

**Now, even though it's probably getting a little annoying:**

**Avery: Just a little?**

**_Disclaimer:_**

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, we wouldn't have to worry that SOPA will shut down this site and subsequently this story. ;)**


	16. Chapter 16: 'Moony' Mistake

James grinned. He loved the sound of someone screaming in the morning.

Sirius grinned. He loved the sound of Slytherins screaming in the morning.

Tobi scowled. She loved the sound of no one screaming in the morning.

Off course, the three interests conflicted. On the morning in question, majority ruled.

Tobi stormed out of the Slytherin common room and straight to James and Sirius, who were listening smugly. "You _will_ pay for this," she calmly and menacingly avowed. She stormed off to the library for another hour's sleep.

Remus stood a safe distance behind James and Sirius. He was a bit cross. He hadn't wanted to help them… but Avery had been right. It was best for everyone. If he hadn't… His thoughts trailed off. He didn't really want to think about it.

Beside him, Avery was _fuming_. Without her, James and Sirius would never have gotten this to work. She had gotten Remus to do the fancy potions part, put it all together herself… _She _was the reason this prank had worked. What was her payment?

_"You brought the girl?!" James whispered furiously._

_"Yeah…" Remus answered as he and Avery joined James and Sirius, who were waiting outside the Slytherins' entrance. "Why…?"_

_"She's a girl," James venomously spat._

_"Hey!" Avery snapped, indignant. "Without me, you guys couldn't-"_

_"Pipe it, short stuff," James had admonished._

_She couldn't contain her rage any longer, so she thought she would release her angry in a productive manor. She gave him a solid punch to the stomach, which successfully winded him and left him gasping on the floor. "You know," she softly hissed, "if you had any stomach muscles, that wouldn't hurt."_

_Sirius snickering was stopped short by a death glare from Avery. He staggered backwards, throwing his hands defensively in front of him. "Good," she whispered as the entered the Slytherin common room._

Looking back at it the next day, Avery was still angry. They weren't even going to let her come along with them. She fumed behind them as a couple of wailing Slytherins came running out of the common room. Sirius and James burst into laughter all over again. The Slytherins quickly reentered their house, feeling very embarrassed to say the least.

Narcissa Black, Sirius' fifth year cousin, flew out into the hallway. Her eyes instantly locked onto Sirius'. "You!" she bellowed, heading straight for him. "You are a disgrace to the entire Black line! You should be severely ashamed at the horrible dishonor you have brought to our pure name, _blood traitor_!" She pointed her wand menacingly at him before whirling around to storm off to the common room.

She would have left him alone if Sirius hadn't done something severely stupid. "Those are bold words from the Black girl with the red and gold hair, which, I distinctly remember, are Gryffindor colors."

Narcissa whipped around, pure loathing in her eyes. She raised her wand, about to fire a curse, when someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to meet Andromeda (her seventh year sister who, like most of the Slytherins at the moment, had scarlet and gold hair) who calmly stared her down.

"Leave him," Andromeda quietly instructed. "If you hurt him, he'll never change. Give him some time to straighten out. Hopefully, he'll outgrow it all."

"And if he doesn't?" Narcissa hissed with fury.

"Then he will have to live with the consequences, now, won't he?" Andromeda stated. "Come on. Let's get this… stuff out of our hair."

Narcissa reluctantly yielded to Andromeda's argument, shooting Sirius one last menacing glare before disappearing into the Slytherin common room.

"You better watch yourself, Sirius," Andromeda warned. "You're already on thin ice. You don't need to swing at it with a pick ax."

Avery stomped over to Sirius and jabbed him in the stomach. "Oi, what?" he exclaimed, stumbling backwards.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Avery demanded. Sirius looked back at her, confused.

Avery groaned and shook her head. "Fine," she snapped. "Thank you Andromeda for saving Sirius' butt. He would thank you himself, but he's too stubborn and doesn't want to bruise his ego."

Andromeda laughed. "Oh, I know all right," she good naturedly replied. "He'll always be my little bull headed cousin."

Sirius rolled his eyes, while Remus and James double over, laughing. Andromeda started to leave, when Sirius suddenly spoke. "Hey, Dromeda!"

"What?" she inquired.

"The only thing that will make the coloring come out is flobberworm mucus," he informed.

Andromeda wrinkled her nose before smiled. "Thanks. See you around." She went to find her angry younger sister in the fray of enraged Slytherins. Over her shoulder, she called, "I would clear out before anyone else finds you and connects one and two."

The foursome took the older Slytherin's advice and quickly left for the Great Hall. "Andromeda's the only decent person in my family," Sirius suddenly declared.

"I like her," Avery replied.

"The rest of my family is horrible," Sirius mumbled. "There are all stuck-up, cruel pure bloods. They hate me, you know. Everybody but Dromeda hates me. She's the only cool one, and I don't even know if she likes me."

Avery sighed. Unlike James or Remus, she knew what Sirius' family was like. She knew why he hated them all. She knew what they did to him. It was because of them that Sirius hated the Slytherins. James hate was just blind prejudice. Sirius had a _reason_ to loathe them.

She wondered if she could ever get Sirius to not hate Slytherins. She doubted it, but still hoped that one day she could change his mind.

Remus mentioned something that broke Avery's train of thought. "Did you guys notice that Tobi's hair was normal?"

"Tobi…?" James echoed.

"October Phoenix…? The angry Slytherin girl…? She vowed revenge…?" Remus clarified.

"Right now, all of Slytherin are vowing revenge," James chided. "Be more specific."

"The girl that just stomped up to you before Narcissa came out," Avery informed. "You know; the only Slytherin with normal hair."

"Oh… _That_ angry Slytherin girl…" James remarked in comprehension. "Now that you mention it, it is kind of odd."

After a moment of thought, Remus declared, "Must be because she's a metamorphmagus."

"She is, isn't she?" James inquired, also thinking hard. "I need to ask her how she does it."

"You can't just _learn_ how to be a metamorphmagus," Remus reproached. "That's just like trying to teach yourself how to become an animagus. It's impossible."

Avery burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "What?" Remus demanded.

"Nothing. Just… nothing."

* * *

Krystal, Avery, and Remus were working on a Defense against the Dark Art paper Professor Fudge had assigned in the Room of Requirement (Krystal and Avery had 'discovered' it a few weeks before. Remus was the only other person that knew about it). Normally they would have studied in the Gryffindor common room, but at the moment it was filled with ecstatic Gryffindors (Gryffindor had won the match against Hufflepuff). Not too surprisingly, James and Sirius were in detention.

"Is your tail fluffy?" Krystal suddenly blurted.

"What…?" Remus queried.

She blushed at the awkwardness of the situation. "Is your tail fluffy?" she repeated. He went pale.

"Krystal!" Avery snapped. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Sorry," Krystal mumbled. "I was just curious and I thought I might as well ask him here when there's nobody to overhear us."

"It's still insensitive," Avery chided. "How would you like it if I asked you something like that?"

Remus smiled a tiny bit at the irony of the situation. Generally, it was Avery who declared something rash and Krystal who rebuked her, not the other way around.

"It's alright," he quietly assured. "It's fluffy… I guess…. Depends on what you call 'fluffy', really…"

"Satisfied?" Avery demanded, trying to keep Krystal from stating any other possibly offensive remarks.

"Yes," Krystal replied. "It was just driving me nuts. I tried _so_ hard not to ask… really."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a while. "Why?" Remus queried. The silence was starting to get to him.

"Why what? Why would I want to know why your tail is fluffy?" Krystal inquired. He nodded. "Well, I've just never seen a werewolf before. Well, a transformed werewolf. I'm sure I've seen lots of werewolves and just not known it."

"Well, let's hope it stays that way," he sighed. He knew what a werewolf looked like much too well. It was not a pretty sight.

"I don't know," Avery answered. "It might be kind of…" she trailed off, trying not to say anything offensive. Then, she gave up. "-interesting to see a werewolf. I don't want to pet it or anything like that," she added as he glared at her. "Just… um… see it at a safe distance. That reminds me: do they have any werewolf movies yet?"

Remus looked at her oddly. "What do you mean 'yet'?" he inquired.

"Yet… here… You know, here as in England? Horror monster movies are popular in America," Avery elaborated, smoothly covering up anything she might have let slip. "I don't know if it has traveled overseas, yet, though. Might just be an American thing right now, but I'm sure it will catch on here sooner or later."

Remus shrugged. "I have no clue."

"What do you mean?" Avery demanded.

"Well, I'm assuming movies are a Muggle thing," he stated. "So I wouldn't know what's popular and what's not."

"You mean wizards don't go to the movie theaters?!" Krystal exclaimed in shock. "They're the most awesome things ever! I am going to _have_ to take you this summer."

"What exactly are movies?" he probed.

"Muggle magic," Avery informed with a devious grin. As an afterthought, she added, "With popcorn."

Krystal smiled. "Exactly."

* * *

James and Sirius were almost instant celebrities the moment the word got out that they poisoned the Slytherins. Every time they passed a Slytherin in the halls, they were shot dirty looks. Andromeda had informed the rest of her time of the cure, but that only made them even more resentful. Apparently, Slytherin girls didn't like rubbing some worm's mucus into their hair. Sirius had brightly pointed out that rubbing it in their hair was better than having to eat it. He had been promptly hexed by a third year girl and left hanging upside-down in the hallway for a good hour while James laughed his head off.

The whole plan was rather ingenious. How it worked was that Remus and Avery had baked cookies. They then cast a fairly complicated hex on each batch. When a person ate the said cookies, it triggered the hex which then promptly turned the consumer's hair red and gold. Then, the two plus James and Sirius slipped the large tray of enchanted cookies into the Slytherin common room with an innocent looking note that explained that the house elves had made to many cookies and that the Slytherins should help themselves. Sirius and James then took all the credit.

The results: Remus turned out to be a superb cook. Avery was not as skilled, but transfigured her few less than appealing cookies to look much better. Remus was fine with James and Sirius taking the blame for it; he didn't want to be followed around by a bunch of angry Slytherin girls. Avery was so infuriated that she refused to talk to either one of them, a promise she kept very well. Krystal was upset; it wasn't a very nice thing to do, Avery shouldn't have been helping them in the first place, and she didn't like Avery giving the two boys the cold shoulder. The Slytherins as a whole were _almost_ as enraged as Avery, but of course for an entirely different purpose. Due to variations in the potency of the batches, some students had to use much more flobberworm mucus than others, and were naturally more irritated. Tobi, being a metamagus and therefor unharmed, was severely less angry than the rest of the Slytherins, since she got to laugh at all the girls' expressions as the realized that they would have to put mucus on their heads (which did not wash out very well, by the way). Andromeda also took it better, along with a few Slytherins who hadn't ate any cookies. Most Slytherins, however, had eaten the cookies and could reluctantly attest to the fact that they _had_ tasted quite good, even if they despised the side effects.

Severus was one of the few Slytherins who had _not_ partaken of the hexed cookies. His reason: he had recognized James' sloppy handwriting.

It was hard to say who got the better kick out of it; the Gryffindors, who always loved a good prank on Slytherin, or the Ravenclaws, who teased the Slytherins for being dumb enough to eat anything with James' handwriting on it. The Hufflepuffs, however, were very polite about the whole manner. This was simply because they were very empathic: usually, _they_ were the brunt of the pranks.

**AN**

**Seventeen chapters! It's a miracle!**

**Avery: Sure is. Seventeen? My stories don't even get past seven.**

**Krystal: I don't know... Generally Ember sticks to her stories. Since she's really Ember, it makes sense.**

**Avery: I guess.**

**Sorry if this is kind of dragging out things. I'll pick up the pace around second year, but I thought I would hang around in first year for a while and let you guys get a better feel for the characters.**

**Thanks to all my wonderfully reviewers: PaintingInNeon (aka Tobi and previously LookAtMyTopHat), Lady Loophole (aka Avery), sailorcake360, chocykitty, BakedApplez, krikanalo, Made-In-Denmark, Akuzo Heiwa (aka Krystal), and Guest (whoever that may be). Last chapter sets a record for the most reviews I've gotten so far. Maybe I should rant about Dumbledores' status more often. ;)**

**Oh, and Made-In-Denmark, I actually _do_ agree with you. It would make at _lot_ of sense if Professor Dumbledore was gay, even if the story doesn't say it. My point last chapter (don't know if I made it clear or not) was that the way J.K. Rowling presented this fact was not the best, in my opinion. **

**BakedApplez, please do _not_ strike anyone down. ;)**

**Again, thanks to everyone for reviews. I value your opinions a lot. :)**

**Oh, and earlier it said that Tobi was a Hufflepuff... Well, she's not. Sorry for any confusion. She _is_ Slytherin. I went back and fixed it. :)_  
_**

**Now, even though I doubt anyone would care if I didn't put this:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, this author note probably wouldn't be here. ;)**


	17. Chapter 17: The Irony of Ironies

James grinned. He loved the sound of someone screaming in the morning.

Sirius grinned. He loved the sound of Slytherins screaming in the morning.

Tobi scowled. She loved the sound of no one screaming in the morning.

Off course, the three interests conflicted. On the morning in question, majority ruled.

Tobi stormed out of the Slytherin common room and straight to James and Sirius, who were listening smugly. "You _will_ pay for this," she calmly and menacingly avowed. She stormed off to the library for another hour's sleep.

Remus stood a safe distance behind James and Sirius. He was a bit cross. He hadn't wanted to help them… but Avery had been right. It was best for everyone. If he hadn't… His thoughts trailed off. He didn't really want to think about it.

Beside him, Avery was _fuming_. Without her, James and Sirius would never have gotten this to work. She had gotten Remus to do the fancy potions part, put it all together herself… _She _was the reason this prank had worked. What was her payment?

_"You brought the girl?!" James whispered furiously._

_"Yeah…" Remus answered as he and Avery joined James and Sirius, who were waiting outside the Slytherins' entrance. "Why…?"_

_"She's a girl," James venomously spat._

_"Hey!" Avery snapped, indignant. "Without me, you guys couldn't-"_

_"Pipe it, short stuff," James had admonished._

_She couldn't contain her rage any longer, so she thought she would release her angry in a productive manor. She gave him a solid punch to the stomach, which successfully winded him and left him gasping on the floor. "You know," she softly hissed, "if you had any stomach muscles, that wouldn't hurt."_

_Sirius snickering was stopped short by a death glare from Avery. He staggered backwards, throwing his hands defensively in front of him. "Good," she whispered as the entered the Slytherin common room._

Looking back at it the next day, Avery was still angry. They weren't even going to let her come along with them. She fumed behind them as a couple of wailing Slytherins came running out of the common room. Sirius and James burst into laughter all over again. The Slytherins quickly reentered their house, feeling very embarrassed to say the least.

Narcissa Black, Sirius' fifth year cousin, flew out into the hallway. Her eyes instantly locked onto Sirius'. "You!" she bellowed, heading straight for him. "You are a disgrace to the entire Black line! You should be severely ashamed at the horrible dishonor you have brought to our pure name, _blood traitor_!" She pointed her wand menacingly at him before whirling around to storm off to the common room.

She would have left him alone if Sirius hadn't done something severely stupid. "Those are bold words from the Black girl with the red and gold hair, which, I distinctly remember, are Gryffindor colors."

Narcissa whipped around, pure loathing in her eyes. She raised her wand, about to fire a curse, when someone laid a hand on her shoulder. She turned to meet Andromeda (her seventh year sister who, like most of the Slytherins at the moment, had scarlet and gold hair) who calmly stared her down.

"Leave him," Andromeda quietly instructed. "If you hurt him, he'll never change. Give him some time to straighten out. Hopefully, he'll outgrow it all."

"And if he doesn't?" Narcissa hissed with fury.

"Then he will have to live with the consequences, now, won't he?" Andromeda stated. "Come on. Let's get this… stuff out of our hair."

Narcissa reluctantly yielded to Andromeda's argument, shooting Sirius one last menacing glare before disappearing into the Slytherin common room.

"You better watch yourself, Sirius," Andromeda warned. "You're already on thin ice. You don't need to swing at it with a pick ax."

Avery stomped over to Sirius and jabbed him in the stomach. "Oi, what?" he exclaimed, stumbling backwards.

"Aren't you going to say something?" Avery demanded. Sirius looked back at her, confused.

Avery groaned and shook her head. "Fine," she snapped. "Thank you Andromeda for saving Sirius' butt. He would thank you himself, but he's too stubborn and doesn't want to bruise his ego."

Andromeda laughed. "Oh, I know all right," she good naturedly replied. "He'll always be my little bull headed cousin."

Sirius rolled his eyes, while Remus and James double over, laughing. Andromeda started to leave, when Sirius suddenly spoke. "Hey, Dromeda!"

"What?" she inquired.

"The only thing that will make the coloring come out is flobberworm mucus," he informed.

Andromeda wrinkled her nose before smiled. "Thanks. See you around." She went to find her angry younger sister in the fray of enraged Slytherins. Over her shoulder, she called, "I would clear out before anyone else finds you and connects one and two."

The foursome took the older Slytherin's advice and quickly left for the Great Hall. "Andromeda's the only decent person in my family," Sirius suddenly declared.

"I like her," Avery replied.

"The rest of my family is horrible," Sirius mumbled. "There are all stuck-up, cruel pure bloods. They hate me, you know. Everybody but Dromeda hates me. She's the only cool one, and I don't even know if she likes me."

Avery sighed. Unlike James or Remus, she knew what Sirius' family was like. She knew why he hated them all. She knew what they did to him. It was because of them that Sirius hated the Slytherins. James hate was just blind prejudice. Sirius had a _reason_ to loathe them.

She wondered if she could ever get Sirius to not hate Slytherins. She doubted it, but still hoped that one day she could change his mind.

Remus mentioned something that broke Avery's train of thought. "Did you guys notice that Tobi's hair was normal?"

"Tobi…?" James echoed.

"October Phoenix…? The angry Slytherin girl…? She vowed revenge…?" Remus clarified.

"Right now, all of Slytherin are vowing revenge," James chided. "Be more specific."

"The girl that just stomped up to you before Narcissa came out," Avery informed. "You know; the only Slytherin with normal hair."

"Oh… _That_ angry Slytherin girl…" James remarked in comprehension. "Now that you mention it, it is kind of odd."

After a moment of thought, Remus declared, "Must be because she's a metamorphmagus."

"She is, isn't she?" James inquired, also thinking hard. "I need to ask her how she does it."

"You can't just _learn_ how to be a metamorphmagus," Remus reproached. "That's just like trying to teach yourself how to become an animagus. It's impossible."

Avery burst out into uncontrollable laughter. "What?" Remus demanded.

"Nothing. Just… nothing."

* * *

Krystal, Avery, and Remus were working on a Defense against the Dark Art paper Professor Fudge had assigned in the Room of Requirement (Krystal and Avery had 'discovered' it a few weeks before. Remus was the only other person that knew about it). Normally they would have studied in the Gryffindor common room, but at the moment it was filled with ecstatic Gryffindors (Gryffindor had won the match against Hufflepuff). Not too surprisingly, James and Sirius were in detention.

"Is your tail fluffy?" Krystal suddenly blurted.

"What…?" Remus queried.

She blushed at the awkwardness of the situation. "Is your tail fluffy?" she repeated. He went pale.

"Krystal!" Avery snapped. "Why would you even ask that?"

"Sorry," Krystal mumbled. "I was just curious and I thought I might as well ask him here when there's nobody to overhear us."

"It's still insensitive," Avery chided. "How would you like it if I asked you something like that?"

Remus smiled a tiny bit at the irony of the situation. Generally, it was Avery who declared something rash and Krystal who rebuked her, not the other way around.

"It's alright," he quietly assured. "It's fluffy… I guess…. Depends on what you call 'fluffy', really…"

"Satisfied?" Avery demanded, trying to keep Krystal from stating any other possibly offensive remarks.

"Yes," Krystal replied. "It was just driving me nuts. I tried _so_ hard not to ask… really."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room for a while. "Why?" Remus queried. The silence was starting to get to him.

"Why what? Why would I want to know why your tail is fluffy?" Krystal inquired. He nodded. "Well, I've just never seen a werewolf before. Well, a transformed werewolf. I'm sure I've seen lots of werewolves and just not known it."

"Well, let's hope it stays that way," he sighed. He knew what a werewolf looked like much too well. It was not a pretty sight.

"I don't know," Avery answered. "It might be kind of…" she trailed off, trying not to say anything offensive. Then, she gave up. "-interesting to see a werewolf. I don't want to pet it or anything like that," she added as he glared at her. "Just… um… see it at a safe distance. That reminds me: do they have any werewolf movies yet?"

Remus looked at her oddly. "What do you mean 'yet'?" he inquired.

"Yet… here… You know, here as in England? Horror monster movies are popular in America," Avery elaborated, smoothly covering up anything she might have let slip. "I don't know if it has traveled overseas, yet, though. Might just be an American thing right now, but I'm sure it will catch on here sooner or later."

Remus shrugged. "I have no clue."

"What do you mean?" Avery demanded.

"Well, I'm assuming movies are a Muggle thing," he stated. "So I wouldn't know what's popular and what's not."

"You mean wizards don't go to the movie theaters?!" Krystal exclaimed in shock. "They're the most awesome things ever! I am going to _have_ to take you this summer."

"What exactly are movies?" he probed.

"Muggle magic," Avery informed with a devious grin. As an afterthought, she added, "With popcorn."

Krystal smiled. "Exactly."

* * *

James and Sirius were almost instant celebrities the moment the word got out that they poisoned the Slytherins. Every time they passed a Slytherin in the halls, they were shot dirty looks. Andromeda had informed the rest of her time of the cure, but that only made them even more resentful. Apparently, Slytherin girls didn't like rubbing some worm's mucus into their hair. Sirius had brightly pointed out that rubbing it in their hair was better than having to eat it. He had been promptly hexed by a third year girl and left hanging upside-down in the hallway for a good hour while James laughed his head off.

The whole plan was rather ingenious. How it worked was that Remus and Avery had baked cookies. They then cast a fairly complicated hex on each batch. When a person ate the said cookies, it triggered the hex which then promptly turned the consumer's hair red and gold. Then, the two plus James and Sirius slipped the large tray of enchanted cookies into the Slytherin common room with an innocent looking note that explained that the house elves had made to many cookies and that the Slytherins should help themselves. Sirius and James then took all the credit.

The results: Remus turned out to be a superb cook. Avery was not as skilled, but transfigured her few less than appealing cookies to look much better. Remus was fine with James and Sirius taking the blame for it; he didn't want to be followed around by a bunch of angry Slytherin girls. Avery was so infuriated that she refused to talk to either one of them, a promise she kept very well. Krystal was upset; it wasn't a very nice thing to do, Avery shouldn't have been helping them in the first place, and she didn't like Avery giving the two boys the cold shoulder. The Slytherins as a whole were _almost_ as enraged as Avery, but of course for an entirely different purpose. Due to variations in the potency of the batches, some students had to use much more flobberworm mucus than others, and were naturally more irritated. Tobi, being a metamagus and therefor unharmed, was severely less angry than the rest of the Slytherins, since she got to laugh at all the girls' expressions as the realized that they would have to put mucus on their heads (which did not wash out very well, by the way). Andromeda also took it better, along with a few Slytherins who hadn't ate any cookies. Most Slytherins, however, had eaten the cookies and could reluctantly attest to the fact that they _had_ tasted quite good, even if they despised the side effects.

Severus was one of the few Slytherins who had _not_ partaken of the hexed cookies. His reason: he had recognized James' sloppy handwriting.

It was hard to say who got the better kick out of it; the Gryffindors, who always loved a good prank on Slytherin, or the Ravenclaws, who teased the Slytherins for being dumb enough to eat anything with James' handwriting on it. The Hufflepuffs, however, were very polite about the whole manner. This was simply because they were very empathic: usually, _they_ were the brunt of the pranks.

**AN**

**Seventeen chapters! It's a miracle!**

**Avery: Sure is. Seventeen? My stories don't even get past seven.**

**Krystal: I don't know... Generally Ember sticks to her stories. Since she's really Ember, it makes sense.**

**Avery: I guess.**

**Sorry if this is kind of dragging out things. I'll pick up the pace around second year, but I thought I would hang around in first year for a while and let you guys get a better feel for the characters.**

**Thanks to all my wonderfully reviewers: PaintingInNeon (aka Tobi and previously LookAtMyTopHat), Lady Loophole (aka Avery), sailorcake360, chocykitty, BakedApplez, krikanalo, Made-In-Denmark, Akuzo Heiwa (aka Krystal), and Guest (whoever that may be). Last chapter sets a record for the most reviews I've gotten so far. Maybe I should rant about Dumbledores' status more often. ;)**

**Oh, and Made-In-Denmark, I actually _do_ agree with you. It would make at _lot_ of sense if Professor Dumbledore was gay, even if the story doesn't say it. My point last chapter (don't know if I made it clear or not) was that the way J.K. Rowling presented this fact was not the best, in my opinion. **

**BakedApplez, please do _not_ strike anyone down. ;)**

**Again, thanks to everyone for reviews. I value your opinions a lot. :)**

**Oh, and earlier it said that Tobi was a Hufflepuff... Well, she's not. Sorry for any confusion. She _is_ Slytherin. :)_  
_**

**Now, even though I doubt anyone would care if I didn't put this:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, this author note probably wouldn't be here. ;)**


	18. Chapter 18: The End (of First Year)

"Sirius Black!" a voice shrieked. No one was surprised, however. Howlers addressed to him were a very common occurrence.

"Why does he even open them?" Ember inquired. "It's not like you have to or anything, right?"

"I have no idea," Penny admitted. "I've never gotten one."

"I think he enjoys the attention," a girl answered.

She was Artemisia Rowan, a pureblood from their year. Ember found it quite interesting. Most pureblood families were always Slytherin, but the Rowans were the exception. They were closely related to Rowena Ravenclaw, which naturally made them predisposed to Ravenclaw.

Artemisia was intelligent, with long black ringlets and vivid emerald eyes. Athanasius, her brother, resemble her a lot. He was a fourth year and a chaser on the quidditch team.

"Probably," Penny agreed. "Why else would he have died all the Slytherins' hair?"

"You know that he and Potter made over fifty knuts selling those enchanted cookies to the Gryffindors last week?" Ember inquired.

"_That's_ a pretty clever idea," Penny confessed. "Why didn't we think of that?"

"I don't know," Artemisia answered. "You'd think we would have."

"The spell has its weaknesses when it's used by itself," Ember replied. "The way they counteracted it by putting it into an inanimate object was astonishing. And then selling it to the others? I'm _certain _somebody else was behind it."

* * *

Remus fingered the money in his pocket. They had actually made a nice profit selling the magical cookies… He was very surprised that James and Sirius had actually even given him any of the income. They had split it 45-45-10, which was pretty generous coming from those two. Of course, it had been Remus who had suggested that they used the enchanted cookies for the game and who had baked more cookies up, but James and Sirius had decided on their own that they would sell them.

* * *

"We need your help…" Sirius whined.

Avery glared at him and looked the opposite direction.

James groaned. "Come on…" he pleaded.

She stuck her tongue out at them. Remus burst out laughing, promptly receiving a glare from James and a wry grin from Sirius.

"Geez," Sirius mumbled. "Girls _do_ hold grudges for forever."

Remus snickered. "It hasn't even been a _month_ yet," he pointed out. "That's a _little_ short of forever."

James rolled his eyes. "Stupid girls. Lily's been corrupting you, hasn't she?" he demanded.

"I heard that!" Lily called from across the common room.

"Stupid girls," he repeated, quieter that time.

"Still heard that!" Lily declared.

"It's uncanny how they do that," James stated. "They can hear you if you're even _thinking_."

Sirius grinned. "We should learn Occlumency," Sirius teased. "Then, we _might_ stand a chance."

"Doubt it," Lily answered, making Sirius' grin grow.

James groaned. "Mind your own business!"

"I would if you would shut up!" Avery nodded serenely in concurrence.

"The point is," James, who was exasperated at this point, grumbled, "Is that we…"

"Need her help?" Sirius tried.

"No…" James mumbled, not wanting to admit the fact that he was dependent on a girl. "More of would…"

"Like her help?" Sirius offered. "Value her professional opinion?"

"Yes," James declared. "We would enjoy your professional opinion on a matter of extreme confidentiality."

Avery rolled her eyes and left. Lily giggled and motioned for her to sit in an empty seat beside her. The two started chatting, completely ignoring the boys.

"Well, that went well," Sirius sighed.

Remus snickered. "Yes, you gits handled that _wonderfully_," he goaded.

"Why, thank you," Sirius answered. Remus snickered even harder.

James rolled his eyes. "Knock it off," he snapped. "We'll just have to pull this off ourselves."

"Oh, don't act like she's mad at _us_, mate," Sirius replied.

"Yes," Remus agreed. "She's obviously angry with you because you're too pig headed to admit that you _need_ her."

"We don't need her!" James snapped, stomping out of the room. "We've got this, right?"

"Of course," Sirius confidently replied.

* * *

Sirius and James spent the last week of March in detention with Pringle. Their prank was quickly given 'The Most Pathetic Prank in the History of Hogwarts' award, concocted by a few bored Ravenclaws who had nothing better to do with their time.

Only the Muggle borns had any idea what the two boys had been trying to do. Well, most of the Ravenclaws had some vague understanding of what they had tried to accomplish.

The concept was quite simple, but it was the execution that was _very_ flawed. They had filled a bucket full of water and tried to balance it over Pringle's door, so that when the door opened, the water would pour onto his head. This required the water to be placed on the inside and no one to open the door before him. This left the two boys trapped inside the room, which was their first flaw. Their second flaw was that Pringle entered his room while they were setting it up.

The results: James and Sirius were very wet and dejected, while Pringle was very dry and angry.

Avery, Lily, and Remus had laughed when they heard. Krystal shook her head, smiling a little. "Boys will be boys," she remarked with a shrug.

Avery rolled her eyes. "More like 'idiots will be idiots'."

"That's not very nice," Krystal chided.

"Neither are they," Avery pointed out.

"They aren't mean," Krystal disagreed.

"They were trying to dump a bucket of water on an adult and it backfired," Avery retorted. "They got what they deserve."

Krystal sighed, but thought it was pointless to further voice her protests. She had already decided that Avery was the most stubborn person in the world, even more so than James, even.

James and Sirius weren't mean… They were Krystal's favorite characters in the whole book series. How could they be mean?

Avery had a _much_ different perspective on it all. James and Sirius were the gits that tormented anyone they didn't like. They went out of their way to torture Snape just because he was friends with Lily. They hexed random students when they ran down the halls. They thought they were better than everyone else. Worst of all, she had done all that work for them, and they still thought she just 'some girl'. It really aggravated her.

Remus was hesitant about his friends' choices, but then again, they were his _friends_. They were the only friends he had ever had in his _life_. His 'problem' as his family called it had made sure of that. He really didn't want to lose the few friends he had by being a rule following stick in the mud.

* * *

Ember sighed. "How about Alex?" she proposed. "It's unisex, so you wouldn't be offended by it. It's pretty inconspicuous; we wouldn't have to worry about that. It's a nickname, too, so can be short for a lot of things: Alexander, Alexandra, Alexandria, Alexis…" she teased.

The book paused. _"Alex is fine."_

She sighed again. "After all these weeks of indecision, you pick the first one I suggest?" she groaned.

_"You must realize that I have an infinite amount of names to choose from."_

Ember cocked her head. "I would think that you would have already had an idea of names you liked," she answered. "I mean, as old as you must be, you had plenty of time to think about it."

_"How do you know how 'old' I am?"_

She laughed bitterly. "You're the 'all knowing' book; read my mind or something."

_"I did not think you would appreciate that."_

"I'm at _Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_ in _1972_," she muttered. "It would take something really amazing to unsettle me."

_"You're still resentful, though."_

"_Maybe_ because I'm at _Hogwarts_ in _1972_…." If the book, christened Alex, had eyes to roll, it probably would have.

With another sigh, Ember stated, "Well, you told me earlier you were called different names by _some_ of your previous owners. You told me, 'Richard, Charles, Edward, William, Benjamin, and Robert, _among_ _others'_. This means that you would have had _more_ than six owners. Assuming that they each owned you for a decent amount of time, you would have to be older."

_"Have I ever stated that you were too smart for your own good?"_

"Numerous occasions," Ember indifferently supplied. "A wit beyond measure is a man's greatest treasure, you know."

_"Do you think that you are funny?"_

"No," she responded. "I know I am." If Alex had eyes to roll, it _definitely_ would have been rolling them.

Someone entered the dormitory. Ember casually shut the book and put it in her bag. "We're going to be late to class," Penny called.

"I'm coming," Ember replied, slinging her bag over her shoulder.

* * *

"Please?" Sirius begged.

"Just give it a rest," Remus groaned. "She won't do it. You've been begging her for two weeks straight."

"Maybe I'll annoy her into it," Sirius playfully quipped.

"You can't annoy her into anything," Lily replied. "Well, except beat you up, maybe."

Remus snickered, while Sirius broke into a grin. "I've done _that_ already," he teased, to which Remus snickered even harder.

"You know," Lily replied, "if you would just apologize…"

"I already did, Petunia!" Sirius exclaimed. "Like… two times."

Remus was double over at this point, and Lily rolled her eyes in doubt. However, Avery nodded placidly in agreement. "He has?" Lily inquired. Avery nodded again.

"Yep," Sirius boated. "James hasn't."

"I haven't what?" James probed, stepping into the common room. "What's this?"

"An intervention," Krystal teased. "Avery is mad at you because you haven't apologized to her for calling her a wimpy girl or something. I don't know the details, but I guess she's angry."

James looked from Avery to Sirius to Remus (who had stopped laughing at this point) to Lily and then back to Avery. "You want _me_…" he clarified, "to tell _her_… that _I'm_ sorry… for telling the truth?"

With that, Avery wheeled around and stormed out of the room. "Avery!" Lily called as she ran after her. She stopped on the stairs. "Apologize!" she demanded. "Now!"

"Or else…?" James sneered.

"Guys…?" Krystal quietly interjected.

"Or else I will-" Lily started.

"Guys?"

"-make you wish-"

"Oh, you can't-"

"-I _will_-"

"QUIET!" Peter declared, cutting the two off. Lily groaned and stormed off while James sent him a glare _almost_ as hot as the ones he reserved for Lily. "Krystal's trying to say something," Peter timidly clarified, cowering back a little.

Krystal smiled warmly. "Thanks Peter." He shrugged a little. "I was trying to say that if you want Avery to help you two, you're going to have to apologize." Before James could protest, she continued, "It doesn't have to be too heartfelt, really. She thinks that you're just a jerk that's too mean to tell her sorry over something silly, so really, all you're doing is proving her right and making it worse. If you say you're sorry right now, she'll forget about everything and you can prank people again. She liked helping you guys, and I'm sure she has a lot of good ideas by this time."

James sighed. "You mean if I pretend to be sorry, she'll drop the whole thing?" he skeptically queried.

"I'm her sister," Krystal assured. "I should know."

"Well, I can't tell her," he stubbornly muttered. "Guys can't go in the girl's dormitories."

On cue, Avery silently padded down the steps and stared expectantly at him. Lily trailed behind.

"Well?" Lily demanded.

"Do I have to apologize in front of her?" James grumbled.

Avery nodded. "Oh, get on with it," Remus snapped.

"Alright, alright…" James muttered. "I'm…" He paused before mustering all the will he had. "Sorry…" The room was silent for a moment or two.

"You know," Avery remarked. "I really thought you were too stubborn to ever say that." Sirius gasped comically. "Oh, shut your mouth before a bird poops in it."

Sirius grinned. "Glad to have you back."

"All you had to do was apologize," Avery pointed out. "Now, before I help you…"

James froze, realizing what was coming next. "You little…"

"-I have some terms and conditions," Avery quirkily persisted. "First, I want thirty-five percent of any profit we make."

"No way…" James answered.

"I want to be treated equally," Avery stated. "I'm not just 'some girl'. I'm an evil mastermind and deserve a little more respect, thank you very much." James rolled his eyes, and Sirius chuckled. "I want public acknowledgment for my crimes. You two can't take all the glory."

"Finally," she declared, glancing at Remus, "You have let him into the club, too."

"Why?" Sirius inquired. "He's practically a Ravenclaw…"

"He's smart," Avery agreed, "which means we work smarter as a whole." Sirius started to protest, but she swiftly interjected. "With him, we'll get caught less and our plans will work better. Besides, you don't want to do all the complicated smart stuff yourselves, do you?" Sirius shook his head. As a side note, she added, "And he bakes really good cookies. We can't be the dark side without cookies."

Krystal giggled, causing everyone to stare at her. "Must be an American thing," she nonchalantly reamarked.

James and Sirius consulted each other for a moment. "We'll give you ten percent and partial recognition," James declared

"Nope. It's all or nothing," Avery insisted.

"Fifteen percent and full recognition," James shot back.

"No."

"Twenty-five and full," James bargained.

"Thirty and you have a deal," Avery negotiated.

James and Sirius shared looks. "Deal," Sirius declared. "Welcome to the team."

* * *

"Ten percent," Avery declared. "Sorry. I couldn't do anything better for you. They didn't want to make anything less than '_a girl'_."

Remus shrugged. "It is what it is," he replied. "Really, I think you pulled it off very well."

"They didn't suspect a thing," Avery proudly declared.

Earlier, Avery decided that she would turn things to her own advantage. She had refused to talk to either of the boys until they had gone a sufficient amount of time to realize that they couldn't do without her. She then used their need to her advantage, bargaining a decent position for herself.

Remus had known all along, of course. He was very perceptive. Avery guessed that it was partly because of his intelligence and partly because he actually _listened _every once in a while. Anyway, he caught on fairly quickly and confronted her on it. Together, they played things out for the best outcome. He became a double agent of sorts, subtly hinting things and so on. He did not, however, know that Avery was going to work out anything for him, and was pleasantly surprised by it.

"We're business partners," Avery explained. "You help me make some profit, so now I'm getting you some, too."

Remus had shrugged. He hadn't been expecting any repayment; he had just helped her out to be nice or whatever. Why should he complain?

Besides, he was a 'member'. He fit in.

* * *

"Happy Easter!" Krystal called as she raced down the stairs. She received many black looks.

"Happy Easter!" a second year boy, named David Schwann, answered.

"Another American thing?" Krystal groaned.

"Nope," Avery answered. "Another Christian holiday gone rogue thing."

"Oh," Krystal muttered. "Well, that's your opinion…"

"It is not!" Avery retorted. "I got it from Ember, whose life goal is to find all the corrupt and hypocritical things in the world. It _must_ be true."

Krystal rolled her eyes. Really, Ember needed to be less pessimistic…

"I know what Easter is," David piped up. "I'm Muggle born, though. The kids from wizarding families have no idea what we're talking about, though."

"I've never heard of it," Sirius admitted.

"That makes sense," Avery replied.

"What do you mean?" Krystal queried.

"Well, Easter was originally Christian. Wizards aren't Christian, generally speaking, so they must not have adopted the holiday ever."

"So, no chocolate?" Krystal inquired, in despair. "No bunnies? No eggs?"

The second year brunette sadly shook his head. "It's horrible," David responded.

* * *

Krystal sighed. The Hufflepuffs had lost to Slytherin, which meant that Slytherin would most likely win the house cup. Well, everyone else stated that they _would_ win the cup, but Krystal refused to believe that Gryffindor didn't have a shot at winning. Whether Gryffindor would get second or third all depended on the last game of the year: Gryffindor versus Ravenclaw, which was the next day. After that, there wasn't much that anyone could do to change their outcomes.

The quidditch team was frenzied, working meticulously every afternoon to tighten their strategies. The Ravenclaws were very talented this year; it would take a lot to defeat them.

James, Sirius, Avery, and Remus were making a decent amount of money off enchanted cookies. They were charging five knuts per cookie, which added up quickly. Avery had around hundred knuts so far, which she hid in the bottom of her trunk.

The Ravenclaws had figured out the spell, of course. It wasn't very complicated; Krystal had some idea of what it was. The Ravenclaws, however, had modified it to a more user friendly version of the spell, which had a counter curse. That meant that no flobberworm mucus was needed. Also, they passed the spell along, so it was free for them. If the rivalry had not been so great, the Gryffindors probably would have done it for themselves using the Ravenclaws' spell, but as it was, they refused to.

This was very much in the advantage of James, Sirius, Avery, and Remus, and they used it to the fullest extent. Professor McGonagall wasn't happy about it, but Avery spoke rather convincingly on the matter.

"We're only trying to promote the Gryffindor spirit," Avery had explained. "Besides, there are no rules against it and it does cause any harm. All we wanted to do was just to boost the Gryffindor's moral. And, since you're a teacher, we'll dye your hair for free…"

To which she had supplied a cookie and gently put it on the professor's desk. Professor McGonagall watched her, unsure of how to respond. In the end, they didn't receive punishment, but McGonagall kept a close eye on them.

Krystal, obviously, hadn't had to pay for the cookie, nor did any of the group, themselves. She was very glad; she didn't have much money left after they had spent their money on Christmas. She fingered her bright red and gold hair subconsciously.

* * *

Avery watched the people filtering into the stadium and smiled. Slytherin was going for Ravenclaw; they generally voted that way when it came down to it. (This was because Ravenclaws and Slytherins were a lot alike, personality wise. They both valued forms of intelligence, wit and cunning, and were haughty.) Hufflepuff was divided fairly equally.

Every Gryffindor was decked in red and gold, and many had hair that matched. She had made a little over ten sickles on the whole venture, which she felt was well worth it. The whole idea was ingenious; no one would think twice about spending a five knuts on something. In all, they had made a little over two galleons.

Then, she frowned. Poor Remus... He only got around three sickles out of it all.

Then, she blinked. This was all kind of out of character for her. Normally, she'd be the one playing it out for money. Instead, she was planning on giving him part of hers…

Before she could continue down her trail of thought, the quidditch players blasted onto the field. She smiled and lost herself in the fray of players, dreaming of the day she would get a chance to fly among them…

* * *

Two hundred and forty-seven Gryffindor all scuffled miserably into their common house, facing defeat. It had been a long and grueling game, and in the end, Gryffindor had faced a horrible defeat. As much effort that Cooper and his team had put in, they had still lost 150-300. The only reason they had any points at all was because Melissa Green, a Muggle born second year, had caught the snitch, ending the painful game.

James and Avery had bellowed encouragement the whole time, never forsaking the team. After the first few minutes, however, most of the other Gryffindors had fallen silent.

It was a very painful blow to Cooper, who had previously led Gryffindor to many victories in his years as Captain. This was his last game, and he had been hoping for it to go much better.

The results were clear: Gryffindor was not going to be first, or even second. It was a question of where Slytherin would still win or if Ravenclaw had pulled enough out of that last game to pass them.

Krystal was horrified. Losing the House Cup… to _Slytherin_? She hoped very much that Ravenclaw would win, just so that the House Cup wouldn't go to Slytherin. There was also still a chance that Gryffindor could win… Professor Dumbledore wouldn't announce anything until the last day of school, so they couldn't know for sure.

Of course, she didn't say this out loud. She knew how poorly it would go over.

* * *

Penny and Artemisia joyfully scampered down the stadium to congratulate their older siblings on the quidditch team, following the stampede of Ravenclaws.

Ember remained in the stands, the only Ravenclaw that was less than ecstatic. For her, it was too easy of a win to be this excited over. Sure, it gave them the shot they needed to beat the Slytherins, but they _creamed_ the Gryffindors. They hadn't stood a chance. She just didn't feel like celebrating over some on else's inability.

She caught up with the two as they raced to the common room to the party they were setting up. "We won!" Artemisia exclaimed. "Oh, mum's going to be _so_ proud of Athanasius!"

"Just think, Catherine!" Penny cried. "We might actually win the Cup!"

Ember managed a shrug as she trotted along beside them. "That would be nice," she remarked, trying not to sound as indifferent as she was.

"Nice?!" Penny rebuked. "It would be stupendous! My brothers would be _so_ happy!"

Ember quietly stood in the corner during the whole celebration. It was the first time she had gotten a good look at all of Penny's siblings together:

Theodore was the oldest and tallest of the siblings, standing around six foot. He went by Theo, and was very lean and muscular. He had the family's dirty blonde hair and friendly brown eyes, making him less intimidating than he might have otherwise been. Theo was a chaser, captain of the quidditch team, and Head Boy.

The next oldest was Europa. She was also slender, but about a foot shorter, with long blonde waves and brown eyes. She was a sixth year prefect and was polite and very placid.

Next was Helena, who was in fourth year. She had a bit more figure, long blonde hair, and sparkling pale blue eyes instead of the family's characteristic brown. She was also very nice, and a bit more outgoing that Europa.

Mathias was the wild card. He had dark brown hair and the same blue eyes as Helena. Matt was a little rounder than the others as well, and had more energy to him. He was third year and always knew how to make someone laugh, while never being harmful. He was a beater on the quidditch team, and was thoroughly elated by the victory.

Finally, there was Penny, the youngest. She looked much like a younger version of Europa, but had a bit more spirit to her.

They looked very nice together. It was easy to tell that they were all happy, laughing, joking, and having a good time. Ember was happy for them.

Athanasius smiled as Artemisia gave him a bear hug. He was eager for next year, when he would be the quidditch Captain.

Melody Harper, a blonde seeker and only girl on the team, kissed her boyfriend, Scott Fowler, the team's other beater.

All of the Ravenclaws were content, really. Ember might have stood out if things had been different. She had a tendency to blend into the background, however, and preferred things that way.

* * *

Krystal ran into the Great Hall on the last day of school. Avery cheerfully followed behind, eager for the feast. Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus rushed in next, with Peter trailing behind.

They all crowded around the table, eager for the food to arrive. First, however, all waited quietly for Professor Dumbledore to announce the House Cup winners.

He raised his hands for silence. Instantly, any noise ceased. "It's time," he declared, "to announce the winners of the House Cup. In fourth place with 435, we have… HUFFLEPUFF!"

The yellow and black quarter of the room cheered. Gryffindor breathed a sigh of relief. At least they weren't last.

"In third place with 448 points, it's… GRYFFINDOR!"

The Gryffindors cheered half-heartedly.

"In second with 549 points, it's… RAVENCLAW!"

The Ravenclaw corner roared in approval. Second was _always_ good.

"And first, with 563 points, our winner is SLYTHERIN!" Professor Dumbledore proclaimed, sending the green and silver corner into a full fledge frenzy.

The Gryffindors hung their head. They could always get Slytherin next year.

Then, the feast appeared. All of the students, no matter what house, happily devoured the meal. Students laughed, chatted, hugged, waved, giggled, said goodbyes… for the next, summer would start. Some students would leave, never to return. Some students still had six years to go. Still, there was a common thread that linked them all: the spirit of summer, adventure, and a chapter of their life ending.

Ember smiled, watching it all. She lacked that thread, for her summer would be terrible and she knew it, but she couldn't help smiling as she viewed it.

Krystal was thrilled, Avery excited, Lily happy, Remus nervous, James eager, Peter just happy to be there…

Sirius was very apprehensive. He wished he could stay at school over the summer… Why did he _have_ to go home for July and August? The moment he caught sight of James, Remus, and Avery so jubilant, however, he got lost in the euphoria himself. This summer would be _amazing_, no matter what his parents did.

**AN**

**Yay! New chapter. Sorry I took so long getting this one out. School has been a drag, and this is a long one, anyway...**

**Thanks to my loyal reviewers: sailorcake360, koryandrs, Lady Loophole, PaintingInNeon, and Akuzo Heiwa... I really appreciate it. :)  
**

**Avery's not mad at James anymore, Slytherin won the house cup, The Book finally picked a name, we met a lot of new characters, it's finally summer, and Sirius called Lily the wrong name again. :) Busy chapter, if I say so myself****.**

**Oh, and there has been a lot of controversy about how many students are at Hogwarts at a time. If you calculate everything strictly from what the books give us, there would have to be around 280 students at Hogwarts at a time, with around 70 in Gryffindor. J. K. Rowling, however, says that there are around 1000 students in Hogwarts at a time, which would make around 250 Gyffindors. This is a pretty big difference.**

**My take on this is that there were just more students in Harry's year than the books mentioned. Harry doesn't have to be buddies with them all, does he? If a character isn't important to the story, they just won't be mentioned.**

**They just wouldn't have time to talk about everybody in the books. I mean, in my story so far, I have _fifty-two_ characters that I have to keep up with, and that number _will_ grow throughout the story. I haven't mentioned a few, such as Lucius Malfoy or Frank Longbottom, but they will appear later. Trust me: that's a lot of people and you wouldn't want to hear about them.**

**Also, it's not like you have a set amount of students each year. It might fluctuate. Maybe one year there are 38 first years in each house, maybe the next year there's 45 or 24. It would vary with how many kids were born that year.**

**Oh, and another kind of confusing thing: There are 29 knuts in a sickle. There are 17 sickles in a galleon. (now, if you were smart or happened to have a calculator handy, you would find out that that means that there are 493 knuts in a galleon. For the rest of you, well, I just told you, didn't I?) Anyway, if you were confused on that part, I was too for a while... ;) Got to love Google. :)**

**So, if you've got this far in the story and haven't figured it out, I'm trying to get things as cannon as possible, down to getting the date of Easter in 1972 right. Feel free to yell at me if I do something that's not. ;)**

**Avery: Okay.**

**Ugh... I thought I lost you or something.**

**Avery: Nope. :P**

**Krystal: She got stuck on the converting knuts to galleons thing.**

**Avery: I _actually_ got out a calculator and did that... And _then_, you told me. :P**

***smiles evilly***

**Anyway:**

**Now, even though it's getting to the point where I just copy and paste this in every time:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, or any of it's people/places/terms/ etc. If I did, I would have chose something easy to convert that 493 knuts in a galleon. ;)**

**Avery: Me, too.**


	19. Chapter 19: Avery Flies (Part 2)

Avery jumped out of the train, ready for summer. She was free! No more homework or essays…

Krystal stepped lightly off the train, breathing in the fresh air. This summer was going to be _amazing_.

Tobi leapt off the train, knocking over various students in the process. "Tobi has arrived!" she declared, staggering slightly as gravity reclaimed her and her trunk.

"So much for a dramatic entrance," an eighteen year old boy laughed. He was tall, with straight pale blonde hair and sharp features.

"Shut up, Emil," Tobi snapped.

He rolled his eyes. "Sure thing, little sis."

Tobi groaned, but didn't bother to retort. Older brothers were _so_ worthless…

"Don't forget; I'm taking you home and have all the umbrellas," Emil reminded her with a sly grin. "That means you have to pretend to like me."

Tobi didn't know what she hated worse: the fact that he could almost always know what she was thinking, or the fact that his favorite thing was to annoy her.

"It's not his _favorite_ thing," a second boy contradicted, joining the group. Tobi sent him a pointed glare. He smirked and changed his black hair to a whitish blonde to match them. "It's _one_ of his favorites."

"Oh, shut up, Julian." Tobi snapped.

She groaned again, lugging her trunk behind her. She actually liked Emil… most of the time. He was pretty cool, as far as older brothers went. He cared about her, too, even if he didn't always let it show. He would always be there when she needed him.

If an onlooker observed them, it would appear to be a love/hate relationship, but it was more a game or ritual between them. He teases her perpetually, but his smile gives it all away. She insults him frequently, struggling to look surly and generally failing.

Her second older brother, Julian, was fifteen and had just finished fourth year. He was the most serious of her siblings (Tobi blamed it on his boring name), but even he knew a good joke when he saw one. Off course, he loved to tease her as well.

"Come on," Tobi sighed. "Mum will want us home on time."

Emil grinned. "Mum won't care and you know it." Nevertheless, he took her trunk from her and the threesome set off for home.

Avery and Krystal dashed over to Mr. Jones, who was waited toward the front of the group. "Mr. Jones!" Krystal called, hugging him. "Hogwarts was _amazing_! There were ghosts and talking portraits and magic…"

Avery grinned. "Hi," she greeted, dragging her trunk along behind her. Ciara hooted softly, a low, melodic sound.

Scarlet, although fully grown, was still on the smaller side, about a foot tall. She was much less hyper than before, but still remained her cheerful self.

Mr. Jones smiled and hugged Krystal back. He had missed them. "Come on," he instructed. "Twinkle can't wait to see you two."

Krystal and Avery each held onto one of his hands and grabbed their trunks. Before they disappeared, Avery waved to James and Sirius, laughing at their fate.

Sirius ducked off the Hogwarts Express. He trailed behind James, hoping he wouldn't be seen by-

"SIRIUS!" a very familiar, shrill voice bellowed.

"Hide me!" Sirius muttered, ducking behind James.

"It's too late," James answered, sidestepping. "She's already seen you, mate."

Walburga Black pushed through the crowd, trailed by a small boy. The enraged mother brandished her wand, and Sirius knew she would _not_ be afraid to use it, even in public.

"Hi, Reggie," Sirius greeted, trying to divert his mother's wrath. "How are you?"

The boy scowled. "I don't like 'Reggie'," he sourly protested. "I like Regulus."

"Sirius," his mother hissed, "it's _time_ to _go_."

"Bye!" James muttered, scurrying off to his parents. Mrs. Black was not the kind of person he wanted to hang around.

Sirius desperately watched his best friend flee and Avery laughing as she Apparated with her family.

This summer was going to be totally, absolutely, positively _horrible_.

Remus disembarked the train, weaving his way through the crowd to find his parents. His mother quickly found him. "How are you?" she inquired, hugging him.

"Fine, mum." His reply was muffled by the crushing embrace he was in.

"Everything went well?" his mother probed.

"Yes," he answered. "No one knows," he quickly added. He felt bad about lying to his mother, but he knew it was best this way. Otherwise… his dreams of an education were gone. Hogwarts had given him a freedom that he would never have gotten any other way. Also, he didn't want his mother to worry any more than she had to. Her hair was already prematurely graying.

"Ready to go, sweetie?" his mom inquired. "Your father found a new treatment for you."

Remus frowned, but didn't speak. Secretly, all three of them knew in their hearts that there would never be a cure, but his parents still kept trying.

Peter staggered off the train, blinking in the bright light. He quickly located his mother in the crowd.

"Peter!" she cried, crushing him in a hug. "How are you? Did you have a nice train ride? How was your day?"

"Fine, mum," Peter answered. "I'm fine."

His mother frowned. "You don't sound fine," she replied. "You need some tea!"

"I'm fine…" he insisted. "Really, mum."

His mom hugged him again. "Alright… If you're sure, honey…"

Ember quietly towed her meager belongings off the train and onto the platform. It was a three mile walk to the orphanage through the heart of London. Then, it was back to her 'haunted' dismal room in her grubby orphanage. To top it all off, it had started to drizzle.

She walked out of the station humming the melody of a song that did not exist and dragging the trunk of a boy that no longer existed.

"Whatcha humming?"

Ember turned around to meet Tobi in the eyes. "_Home_," she answered with a grim smile, "by Philip Phillips."

Tobi cocked her head. "I don't think I've heard that one. How about you, Emil?"

The older of the two boys walking behind her shook her head. "No," he replied with a shrug. Emil looked very much like Tobi, tall and slender, with a slightly pointed face. He had startling sapphire eyes and choppy, bleach blond hair.

"I haven't, either," the second boy stated. He fit in well with the rest of the family: tall, thin, blue eyes, and straight, practically white hair. "Thanks for asking."

Tobi noticed Ember's curiosity. "There my idiot brothers, Emil and Julian," she explained.

Emil chuckled. "Sure thing… _October_," he sneered playfully.

"_Emily_!" she retorted with a grin. Julian snickered. "Oh, shut up, _Julia_." All three of the siblings burst into laughter. Ember shook her head.

"You are _so_ lucky you don't have any brothers. I have _three_, and as you can see, two of them are older," Tobi declared.

Ember's grim smile remained. "I did… before."

Tobi pouted. "Oh…"

"Three younger ones," Ember added. "I don't remember them very well, though."

"That's horrible!" Tobi cried. Emil raised an eyebrow, interested. Julian managed to look both amused and confused at the same time. Tobi groaned and rolled her eyes. "She woke up in London last year without any of her memory," she explained. "She couldn't remember her family or anything. Now, she's stuck in a grubby Muggle orphanage."

Julian frowned. His sister always had a knack for finding the unusual.

Before this, it had just been sprinkling slightly. At that moment, however, it began to pour.

"Aren't you cold?" Tobi inquired, staring at Ember out from under her large black umbrella.

"I'm too bitter to melt," Ember replied with a smirk.

"Nonsense!" Tobi snapped, grabbing her arm and yanking her under the umbrella as well.

"Um… Thanks," Ember answered, rubbing her arm.

The four walked silently through London, watching the rain pound down. Not many people were on the streets. It wouldn't have mattered either way; the four would not have looked out of place. They easily passed for normal children caught in a storm on their way home.

Finally, they reached a large intersection. "This is where I turn," Ember announced. She started to step out from under the circle of protection when Tobi thrust the umbrella at her.

"Take it," Tobi commanded. "Emil and I can share."

Ember smiled, although Tobi knew her heart wasn't in it. "Thank you," Ember replied. She turned and started to leave.

"Catherine!" Tobi called after her.

"Yes?" Ember replied, turning to face her.

"Come with us," Tobi beckoned. "My family won't mind. You don't have to go back to that horrible place."

Ember shook her head sadly. "I can't," she muttered. "They're expecting me there." She gestured down the long, grim street.

Tobi frowned. "Next year?"

Ember shrugged. "Maybe," she answered. "See you in September?"

It was Tobi's turn to force a smile. "Yep."

With that, Ember disappeared between sheets of rain.

The three continued onward. "You're friends with her?" Emil inquired after a while.

"She's Ravenclaw," Tobi replied, as if it explained everything. Her brothers nodded, so it must have meant something to them. "And American," she added.

"I noticed as much," Julian responded, rolling his eyes. "Aunt Viv, remember?"

Tobi giggled. "You know, I'm spending this summer with her again."

"You spend every summer with her," Emil replied.

"I said 'again'," Tobi retorted, "which implies that I've been there before." Her brother looked at her and smiled at her. Normally, she could read every expression that crossed his face, so she was surprised when she couldn't read this one. "What?"

Emil shook his head, and the smile disappeared. "Nothing."

"Nothing is _never_ 'nothing'," Tobi rebuked.

"Alright, then: nothing important," he amended.

She scowled good naturedly at him. "Jerk," she muttered, snatching the umbrella.

Emil shouted something as Tobi darted off, umbrella in hand. Julian laughed and slid his umbrella over him as well, but he was already soaked. By the time they had caught up with her, they reached their house at the end of the block.

Tobi giggled. "You're wet."

* * *

Krystal and Avery quietly ate their pieces of chocolate cake, savoring each bite. "It is _so_ good to be back…" Avery murmured between mouthfuls.

"No one makes chocolate cake like Twinkle," Krystal agreed.

The two girls were both sitting in Krystal's room, as it was deemed the safest place to eat illegal chocolate cake.

Her room had changed once again: that summer, it was a rosy pink, with pale gold trim. On the wall opposite of her bed there was a painting of a large, majestic golden lion. Underneath it in scrawling red letters was, _"Their daring, nerve, and chivalry set Gryffindors apart."_

Scarlet slept in her cage in the corner of her room. A black, soundproof silk covering had been thrown over the top.

"So… what do you want to do today?" Avery inquired.

"I don't know. Eat cake?" Krystal suggested.

"After that?"

"I don't know," Krystal repeated.

"Outside?" Avery proposed.

"This is starting to sound oddly familiar," Krystal remarked.

"Oo… The broom!" Avery exclaimed, rushing out of the room.

Krystal moaned. "_Very_ familiar." She raced after Avery, catching up with her at the shed.

Avery reappeared brandishing the old broom. "Yes! He didn't hide it!" Avery called triumphantly.

"You really shouldn't-" Krystal started.

"I believe I can fly!" Avery sang, jumping onto the broom. Instantly, it leapt into the air. Avery soared up into the sky, whooping with joy. Then, she stopped, around fifty feet into the air. She hovered there for a moment, before plummeting straight towards the ground.

Krystal screamed in horror.

Two feet above the ground, Avery swooped back up and headed straight for the sky. "Yes!" she cried in ecstasy. She zoomed around a tree, picking up speed as she went. She whipped around in a figure eight, blasting past Krystal with so much force that she stumbled backwards. Avery twirled around a few trees with her hair flying behind her. She gathered a bit more speed before doing a doing a vertical loop. At the peak of the arch, she was entirely upside down. Her hands flew up and she laughed in joy. Then, she was hurtling back toward the earth. She quickly righted herself and landed gracefully next to Krystal.

Avery's face was flushed and her hair disheveled, but the look on her face radiated pure joy. She was _made_ to fly. She could feel it in her _bones_.

Krystal stared wide eyed back at her, still processing what she was seeing.

It wasn't until he spoke until the girls realized that he had been watching them the whole time.

"I think we need to get you a broom, don't we?" Mr. Jones teased.

"Yes!" Avery instantly replied. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"

He chuckled. "Let's go, then."

Krystal grinned almost as wildly as Avery.

* * *

Avery ran into the backyard, brandishing her new broom, a Nimbus 1001. She mounted, closed her eyes, and bulleted off the ground. Unlike Mr. Jones' old broom or the school's brooms, _her_ broom was incredibly, astonishingly, awesomely _fast_. Within seconds, she was going three times the top speed of Mr. Jones' broom. Also, the control was much better. Avery could, and did, turn on a dime.

She scrutinized its capabilities very carefully. She tested its reaction time, top speeds, control, turning abilities, and so on. After five minutes, she gently landed.

"Does it pass your test?" Mr. Jones inquired.

"Yes," Avery simply answered. She turned to Krystal. "Want to give her a try?"

"Really?" Krystal whispered, amazed.

Avery nodded. "Hop on," she commanded, beckoning her. Krystal ran over and slid on behind her. Then, they were up.

Krystal had never been particularly good at flying. Sure, she could get around on the school brooms, but it had always been a bit awkward. Avery, however, could fly from the moment she had _seen_ a broom.

Krystal laughed in amazement as Avery gently swerved her around, soaring high in the sky. When Avery was controlling them, it felt so natural…

She couldn't help humming 'A Whole New World' from _Aladdin,_ knowing exactly how Jasmine must have felt.

"Ready?" Avery queried after a minute or two of this.

Krystal smiled. "Ready."

At that moment, the broom plunged toward the ground. Krystal shrieked all the way down. Avery gently leveled them off at about ten feet above the ground.

"Are you alright?" Avery demanded, staring back at a very pale Krystal.

"Again…" she breathed.

"What?"

"Again!" Krystal exclaimed. "That was _amazing!_ Do it again!"

Avery grinned evilly. With that, the broom flung into action. Krystal shouted and screamed, and Avery laughed her head off. They did loops and sharp turns, flips and spirals… Krystal spent half of the time clinging to Avery and the other half waving her arms in the air, depending on whether they were upside down or not.

After five minutes, Avery landed them safely onto the lush grass. Twinkle cheered happily. She loved it when the girls had fun. Mr. Jones smiled. It surprises him sometimes about how quickly they have grown on him.

* * *

Tobi scribbled in her little sketchbook her aunt Vivian had given her a few years back. It seemed only appropriate since she was on the first plane her parents could get her and her little brother Morpheus on to America.

She didn't really mind. Aunt Vivian was the most fun out of the family, anyway. Tobi has heard the vaguest details from the story. Her aunt got mad at the family when she was sixteen or so and ran away from home. She hitched a ride to America and finished out her education in their wizarding school. Ever since then, Aunt Vivian has lived in America. She only comes back for Christmas and such, and that's only if Tobi's grandma isn't around.

Tobi enjoys her summers with her. Her older brothers used to come along, too, but that was before Emil had graduated and Julian got a summer job.

* * *

James pounded endless quidditch tactics into memory. He practiced maneuvering techniques, worked on his top speeds, and put his agility to the test. He was _going_ to be on the team this year. He _had_ to be.

* * *

Sirius groaned. "I brought you some breakfast," Regulus whispered.

"Why do you care?" Sirius muttered, without turning. "You're just like them."

Regulus sighed and placed the tray of food down. _"Why does Sirius have to be so bad?"_ he despondently thought. How could he not see how much pain his defiance brought to his parents? They have tried everything for him, and Sirius in turn threw it all in their faces. Regulus would hear their mother cry herself to sleep on some of the worse nights.

He shut the door and walked away, shaking his head.

* * *

Ember sighed, watching the rain ripple down her window. She liked it best when it was raining. It blurred the rest of the world out and she could almost pretend there was something better outside. Almost, but not quite. She went over her essays that the professors had assigned again. She actually wished they had given her _more_ homework. Then, she would have something to do.

After a minute or so of this, she gave up. She slipped them back into her trunk and pulled Alex out.

_"Yes?"_ Alex inquired.

"Give me something to read," Ember instructed. "You're a magical book; you must have something good somewhere."

_"What do you want?"_

Ember actually _smiled_ a real smile, not forced one, which was becoming a fairly rare occurrence. "Hm… Do you have Eragon?"

_"Of course."_

"Good; I need something long and terribly boring."

**AN**

**Sorry I took so long getting this to you. I got around 5000 words when I realized that I probably shouldn't try to cram all of the summer into one chapter. For all my readers sake, I split this one in half. You can thank me later. ;)**

**I have _no_ clue what I was thinking when I said that Luna was in Harry's year in the last author's note. I made sure to fix that. Thanks to koryandrs, sailorcake360, chocykitty, and the guest, who caught that and promptly sent me angry reviews. ;) **

**Also thanks to Akozu Heiwa (who told me in person) and Lovewriting12. :**

**Siriusly, I really don't know why I wrote that Luna was in their year. Whoops. :D**

**Avery: I still have no pity.**

**Off course. :P**

**So I guess Avery _can_ fly without flipping upside down. ;)**

**Avery: I hate you. **

**Krystal: We still have the picture, though.**

**Avery: Now I really hate you.**

**Oh, yeah, and chocykitty, I think you win the award for longest review ever. ;) No, really, I appreciate it.**

**Oh, and as a side note, I actually have read all four of the Eragon books last summer. If you've ever seen them in person, you know how big of a feat that is. Anyway, I liked them, and they were much less boring than the alternatives... So, just to make this clear: if you're a fan, please know that the last line is meant for comedic relief only, and not as an insult. I liked Saphira... sarcastic dragons are always fun. :)_  
_**

**Now, even though you've probably guessed:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, any of it's people/places/terms/ etc, _Home, __A Whole New World_, Aladdin, or the Inheritance Cycle. If I did, I would never goof on what year Luna was in. ;)**

**Krystal: Probably not. :)**


	20. Chapter 20: An Owl's Brief Adventure

"Hogwarts letters!" Mr. Jones called. Instantly, two girls scrambled into the room.

Avery snatched hers from his hand and ran off with it. Krystal took hers more politely, remembering mutter, "Thank you." She opened it and stared at the list of school supplies.

"Do you want to go to Diagon Alley now or later?" Mr. Jones inquired.

"Now," Krystal answered.

* * *

"I've got a letter!" Regulus bellowed. "Mum, I'm going to Hogwarts!"

"That's wonderful, sweetie," Walburga Black responded. "I know you'll enjoy Slytherin very much." With this response, she made sure to give a pointed look to Sirius. "You know, Sirius, I could get Dumbledore to resort you. I'm sure he would understand-"

"No," Sirius bluntly replied.

Mrs. Black sighed. The other Blacks in the family hadn't taken well to his sorting into Gryffindor. She was rather disappointed, herself. Blacks just _weren't_ Gryffindors. A Black might get away with Ravenclaw… but Gryffindor and Hufflepuff were _not_ options.

So, of course, her defiant Sirius had to be a Gryffindor.

At least he wasn't a squib...

"We can go to Diagon Alley after breakfast to get your things," Mrs. Black announced.

Sirius grinned. Finally, he would be free from this disaster. Maybe he would see James…

* * *

"James!" Mrs. Potter called. "Come down here!"

James swooped down and landed in front of his mother. "What, mum?" he queried, hopping off his broom.

"Your Hogwarts letter is here, dearest," his mother explained.

James grinned. "Yes!" he exclaimed, throwing his broom inside. "Let's go!"

* * *

"Catherine?" one of the women called.

"Yes?" Ember inquired, entering the room.

"Your school has sent out its list of supplies," the woman informed.

"Thank you," Ember replied as she took the letter. She gently pealed the flap off the envelope and slid out the letter. "Can I get them today?"

"Sure," the woman answered. "Just be back before five."

"I will," she promised as she ran out the door.

She tumbled down the stairs and stopped at the front desk. "I'm getting my school supplies," Ember explained, holding up the letter.

"Alright, dear," the woman responded, waving her on.

Ember burst out the front door. _"Freedom,"_ she whispered to herself as she burst out the front door, smirking at the line from _Braveheart_.

* * *

Sirius ducked away from his family and slid over to James. "Hey, mate!" James cheerfully greeted. "How's your summer so far?"

"Fine," Sirius lied through his teeth.

James smiled. "I thought your mother didn't _allow_ you to be-?"

"She doesn't," Sirius cut in with a mischievous grin. "Quick, let's hide in there." He pointed to a dark, secluded shop nearby.

"Hey, mum!" James called. "Can I go with my friend?" He was careful to avoid Sirius' name, for fear of Mrs. Black overhearing.

"Sure, honey," James' mother replied. "Just be back in an hour."

"Yes," James laughed, and the two boys darted off into the shop.

Once inside, the boys surveyed the building. It was dimly lit and a little musty, much like the inside of Ollivander's. Instead of wands, however, the shop was filled with animals. A variety of owls lined the walls, while other animals were grouped on the floor. An assortment of kittens playfully frolicked in one cage, while a couple toads croaked from a glass tank on the table next to it.

Then, James caught sight of the mother lode. "Rats…" he muttered, pointing to a cage of brown wriggling creatures.

Sirius ran over, laughing. "Well, isn't that fortunate…"

A loud hoot filled the room. Sirius turned to see a large owl staring him down. "Hey, look," he instructed. "It likes me."

"It does _not_," James disagreed. "It thinks you're going to feed it." He grabbed a rodent and dangled it in front of the cage. "See?"

The owl strained for the squirming brown mass, but couldn't reach it through the bars. It hooted angrily and turned away.

"It likes me," Sirius assured. "It hates you, though. Look at it."

James put the rat back into its cage. "No, it likes _me_." To prove his point, he walked over and flung open the cage door. "Here, owl…"

The owl's head swiveled around. With a hoot of joy, it hopped out of the cage onto James' arm. "See? It loves-" James started but was swiftly cut off as the owl spread its wings, whacking him in the face. "Oi!" he yelped as the bird took off.

At that moment, the store keeper entered the shop from the store room. He shouted something in surprise as the owl did a lap around the store before disappearing out the front door, which the two boys had left propped open.

The owner turned to James and Sirius. Sirius quickly backed up, hands held in front of him in a defensive manner. "He did it!" he exclaimed as he darted out the front door.

James frowned and gulped. "I… uh… It was an accident…"

The store owner frowned back. "What's your name?" he calmly inquired.

"John… Weaver…" James lied.

"Your _real_ name," the owner specified.

"Josh Piper," James tried, sounding more confident.

"Closer," the man replied, leaving the subject at that. "You know, that own was five galleons." James frown grew. "You have two options: either return the owl or pay for it by tomorrow."

"Yes, sir."

"And next time, do _not_ leave the door open in an animal store," the man continued. "Or let the animals out of their cages," he added after a pause.

"Yes, sir…" James mumbled.

"Now, run along," the man commanded.

James sighed and trudged out of the building. He examined the sky. There was not an owl to be seen. What was he going to do? If his parents found out, they would _kill_ him.

He saw only one choice: he would have to scrounge up every bit of allowance he had and hope it was enough.

* * *

Sirius ran through Diagon Alley, laughing his head off.

"Sirius?" Avery called, catching sigh of him.

"Quiet!" Sirius demanded, heading over toward her. "I'm hiding from my mum."

Avery rolled her eyes. He was hid about as well as a toddler is when they close their eyes and think they're invisible.

Krystal giggled. "That's a _wonderful_ job you're doing," she declared, stating the obvious.

Mr. Jones chuckled. "Who is this?" he inquired.

Avery rolled her eyes again. "A git from school," she explained.

"I am not a git!" Sirius denied. "_James_ is."

"I am _not_," James answered, sounding thoroughly irate. "And now I have to pay for that stupid owl."

"What owl?" Krystal queried.

James paled and muttered, "Nothing."

Avery grinned. "Now I _have _to hear this."

"Nothing," he repeated.

"James let an owl out of the shop," Sirius declared. "It flew clear out of Diagon Alley."

"Sirius!" James groaned.

"We would have found out anyway," Avery pointed out. "It's just like we told Remus: you might as well get it all over with now."

Krystal giggled. "I think our conversation with Remus was under a _slightly_ different context," she remarked.

"It's still the same point," Avery argued. "You can't hide things from girls. They're more perceptive."

James frowned. "I have to get five galleons by tomorrow or he'll tell my parents," he muttered.

"Five galleons?!" Avery exclaimed. "How are you going to get _five galleons_ by tomorrow?"

"Magic?" Krystal teased.

"They can't. Don't you remember-?"

"It was a joke," Krystal sighed.

"Sheesh, Ember's horrible humor must have rubbed off on you," Avery teased back.

Krystal giggled. "Her humor isn't _that_ bad…"

"Yes, it is."

"Okay, well, maybe it is, but…"

James cut them off, unconcerned with some unknown girl's joke telling abilities. "How am I going to get the money?"

Krystal shrugged. "That's easy," she replied. "Tell your parents."

"What?!" James, Sirius, and Avery cried in unison.

"Are you insane?" James shouted.

"Are you more insane than _me_?" Avery cried.

Krystal shrugged again. "That's the easiest thing to do," she stated.

Avery suddenly smiled. "You know, she's got a point, there," she declared. "You could tell your parents a _modified_ version of what happened, and they'll never know it was your fault. You can claim a Slytherin did it or something and Apparated to blame it on you."

"I like it," Sirius commented.

"You like anything that blames Slytherins," Krystal replied.

"True," Avery conceded. "But that doesn't count."

James shook his head. "I can't do it. My mum will see right through me."

Sirius grinned. "I'll lie, then," he suggested.

"I think they would believe _me_ more," Avery remarked. "I look like an adorable angel at this age."

Krystal stifled her giggles.

"You do look better now that that puke colored stuff is out of your hair," Sirius agreed, grinning wildly.

Krystal could no longer contain her laughter.

"It's _not_ my fault that the blue hair dye faded! It's not like I was _planning_ for my parents to die!" an enraged Avery shrieked back. "I'm _sorry_ I didn't think a crazy wizard was going to rampage through my house and as a result my hair would turn green!"

The grin on Sirius' face froze, and the mischievous twinkle in his grey eyes faded. "Sorry," he muttered, looking away.

"The great Sirius Black apologized," James sneered. "Go write this down. We should make today a national holiday!"

Avery looked up from brooding at Sirius to glare at James. "As I remember, you're the only git that doesn't apologize to people."

Krystal frowned. This had taken a turn for the worse. "I have a galleon left over from my school stuff," she announced. "You can have it."

James looked up. "Really?"

"No, she's offering it to you just to see your stupid hopeful expression," Avery sarcastically muttered

"If I have Ember's humor, you got her pessimism," Krystal remarked.

"I am not _half_ as depressing as Ember," Avery defended. "She just taught me all her sarcasm." She reached into her pocket and reluctantly pulled out her own galleon. "Here, owl boy. Take it." She looked away in pain as James took the galleon from her.

"That's two down," Krystal cheerfully declared.

Avery looked expectantly at Sirius. "I don't have anything!" he exclaimed.

"I doubt that," Avery suspiciously retorted.

"Really, I swear! Do you think my mum would trust me with money?" Sirius declared.

"Good point," Avery admitted.

Suddenly, the sound of footsteps echoed down the alley they were standing in. "Here." With an irritated look, Tobi tossed a galleon at James, "Take my charity, peasant." She continued walking, her robes fluttering behind her. An older boy, probably her brother, trailed behind her. He shrugged at them while he passed.

"That was odd…" Avery murmured once Tobi was gone.

"Yes, yes it was," Krystal answered. "Anyway, two galleons to go."

James smiled half heartedly. It was good to have friends.

* * *

James quietly walked back into Diagon Alley, glad that his ruse had worked. Well, Avery came up with it, but it was still his.

He picked up his bag, still sitting in the same place he had left it the day before. Then, he ran to the old store.

It was seven in the morning and most shops were closed, including the pet shop. However, he found the door was unlocked and the dim lights turned on. The tinkling of bell sounded very loud compared to the silence outside.

Inside was also fairly quiet, although this silence was not as complete. Animals rustled in their cages and an owl hooted quietly.

"There you are, Mr. Potter," the store owner declared, his voice carrying through the shop. James stiffened. How had he known his name? "I presume you brought the money, correct?"

"Yes, sir," James replied, pulling the five galleons out of his pocket. He had _just_ barely been able to find enough.

"Alright," the man murmured, counting the coins briefly.

At this moment, the bell jingled merrily. Catherine, the Ravenclaw in his year, entered the room carrying a large wooden box. She politely waited by the counter.

"You can go, now," the man declared to James.

"Yes, sir," James answered. He glanced at Catherine, curious as to the box's contents.

"Do you have it?" the owner inquired.

"It's a female barred owl, correct?" she checked.

"Yes," the owner replied.

As James stepped out the door, Catherine lifted the top of the crate off. She gently reached in and pulled out the lost owl. James stared in shock as the troublesome owl perched calmly on her arm as if nothing had happened. She stroked it softly as the owner examined it. The owner nodded in approval and handed her the money James had just given him.

James trudged off, thoroughly glum. He got halfway down the street when he heard his name.

"Potter!" Catherine shouted, stopping him in his tracks. She halted next to him, panting. "You forgot your bag," she explained, offering it to him.

"Thanks…" James responded, taking his bag back. If he came back without, his cover would be blow. It was fortunate that she had caught him.

When he swung the bag onto his back, he heard a metallic clatter. He opened the flap to see the five galleons lying in the bottom.

"Hey!" he called. "Your money-"

She turned around. "Keep it."

"But-" James started.

"Well, it was an accident, right?"

"Yeah, but-"

"Then, keep it," she replied. "I don't need it."

"Thanks," he awkwardly responded.

"Just don't forget to give Tobi back her galleon," Catherine suggested.

"How did you-?"

Catherine just shrugged and headed back for the shop. "See you at school," she called over her shoulder.

James frowned. Then, he shrugged to himself. He wondered if the American boys were as weird as the girls were.

**AN**

**Welcome to my twentieth chapter party! Any reader with enough patience to get this far is invited! :D**

**Avery: Oo! Cookies!**

**Poor James... He's given up on trying to make sense of anything.**

**Avery: Ha. Sounds like him.**

**Anyway, if you stick around to the next chapter, I think I can shed some light on the situation. **

**Krystal: I should hope. You're the author. You already know what happens.**

**Yes... I'm omniscient. ;)**

**Avery: You wish. :P**

**Oh, and I don't know who all got the Braveheart reference. Sad movie. :(**

**Now, even though you guys probably think I'm OCD for putting this over and over:**

_**Disclaimer:**_

**I do not own Harry Potter, any of it's people/places/terms/ etc, or Braveheart. If I did, that would be totally awesome. ;)**


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